Communication Overtones

What Makes a Video Go Viral?

2009-07-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

It's the holy grail. Just this week a client asked me, "What makes a video go viral?

Everyone wants to know the shortcut to a super-popular video.

Heck, I want to know myself.

One company that probably has a better idea than most is Visible Measures, a company whose business it is to measure viral video. They have a case study or two that you can read to give you a more scientific view of how stuff goes viral.

I think that the key is to be remarkable, emotional, or very funny. You have to move people to say, "Wow, I have to share this with my friends." Then you have to launch the video in such a way that is has a good chance of being seen. A popular blog is a great place for a video to take off, and don't forget links sent via e-mail.

A couple of years ago Dan Akerman wrote a compelling "how to launch a viral video" guide on TechCrunch that included some questionable practices, but he also peppered in some good ideas.

I picked three very different videos here, one is a commercial that is very funny and odd, which makes it fun; the second is a video put together by a patient at the Mayo Clinic that is both fun and heartwarming; and the third is a very lighthearted and funny video about how United destroyed one of its customer's guitars. What they all have in common is that they have that special mojo that sent them viral.

Let's hear from you, what do YOU think made these viral videos runaway hits?

Enjoy!

THE COMMERCIAL

Evian Rollerskating Babies - as of today, 5.9 million views

CAUGHT ON VIDEO

Mayo Clinic Couple, as of today, 4.1 million views

<="<" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" />

THE SPURNED CUSTOMER

United Breaks Guitars, as of today 3.2 million views

Missing The "Social" In Social Media

2009-06-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

Many organizations and companies that I work with are really great at creating content, which is such an important step for sharing info in social networking channels.

The problem is that they are missing taking the really powerful step of socializing that content. Many really don't know how, or are afraid of what that socializing will unleash on their organization.

Do they have the resources?
Will they be able to realistically meet the demand for direct communication?
How will they handle negative comments?
How will they prove the value of social media to their boss?
How will they make it fit into their already busy day?

It is these questions and many more that I start to answer in the following presentation that I put together for the College Sports Information Directors of America's Annual Conference today.

A few of the examples have a sports bent to meet the needs of that group. It also contains a reference to the B.E.E.S. Social Media Strategy post from earlier this week.

The "Social" In Social Media

View more documents from Kami Huyse.

Building Buzz with Social Media Using Swarming and BEES

2009-06-22T11:01:00.001-07:00

Many companies now have developed a number of social media properties. Even the skeptical seem to have at least a blogspot blog, a Facebook page, a YouTube channel (if they have anything even remotely visual) and of course the requisite Twitter account - though some are just reserved with no profile picture to ensure no one hijacks the name.

With the "land rush" last week for unique URLS on on Facebook, most of the pages have 1,001 fans, just enough to qualify them to get their name before someone squats on the best names.

If they are really cool cats they might even have a Flickr photosharing account and a FriendFeed. Perhaps they even have a Ning community with a handful of passionate people leading the way.

In other words, most are "dipping their toe" in social media but very few have figured out how to best manage these tools to encourage buzz and build community around a brand,

Swarming as a Strategy

I am not criticizing these companies, but am trying to help a number of them make sense of all of the opportunities.

One way to look at social media is as a beehive. The analogy has many hooks that work when you are looking at it from a communication perspective. European honeybees swarm when they are building a new nest or hive. In the same way, companies will need to learn how to swarm to build their social media presence. It has some components that I have fit into the mnemonic of B.E.E.S.

B

BUILD. This is the step most companies have taken, they have built a number of social media properties, but they aren't working together very well. Someone might broadcast their blog content through their Facebook or Twitter account but they aren't building in hooks that go beyond broadcasting. In a beehive nothing is wasted. Everyone has a role and lives that out. In the wild world of social media, you can't control what others do, but you can build out content that is interesting to others. This is the important building of a "hive" or a distributed place that your brand calls home across social media tools.

E

EAVESDROP. This goes far beyond merely listening, or monitoring, though these are a part of this step. This is listening with a purpose to determine what kinds of content are most resonant in each social media community. This is like the communication that bees instinctively use to build a functioning hive or nest and which can be brought to bear in social situations. Each community has a distinct culture, to be effective, one has to learn this culture and speak in its own language.

E

ECHO. Once you know what is resonating to the community then companies should provide content that fits, or echos, what the community finds interesting. This is often been pejoratively called the "echo chamber" by some, but this echoing (ie., Retweeting on Twitter, linkining on blogs, tagging or sharing in Facebook) is how things are virally shared in social networks. Also, echoing is important on all of your social networks. Companies should make sure all of their social properties echo each other. I don't mean that the same content should be on all of the pages, but instead that people can easily get from one property to another and that they support each other.

S

SOCIALIZE. Finally, the content must be socialized and not simply broadcast. Of all of the blogs and profiles I have looked at, my biggest concern is that there is a lack of great interaction. This is a difficult issues because true interaction takes time and energy. Things like auto Direct Messaging and automatically following on Twitter make it easy to pretend as if you are engaging, but it doesn't fool anyone. Additionally, services like Ping.fm can be abused. Companies that have made an investment and have hired or appointed someone to handle their social media outreach have done much better than those who are trying to wing it.

Together, these approaches allow the conditions or environment that can precipitate a swarm. or a buzz, around a brand or organization.

These are just my first thoughts pulled together in a useful mnemonic but I am very interested in hearing your thoughts. Everyone is figuring out this new shifting landscape, but it is clear to me that it's no longer enough just to get an account in one of the popular social media networks and "participate."

What do you think?

Photo from Shutterstock

Media Profile: Brian Bolter, Fox 5 News Washington, D.C.

2009-06-10T09:13:00.001-07:00

In true broadcast media form, Brian Bolter answered my Media Profile questions with a video. Bolter is the anchor of The Edge for WTTG Fox 5 in the Washington D.C. area.

As a former resident of Washington D.C., I follow a lot of people from the area on Twitter. Brian's reporting using Twitter. Brian's real-time incorporation of tweets into his newscast caught my attention a few months ago. He was on my short list to interview as I started this series.

My purpose for these interviews are twofold;

1) to take a look at how traditional media outlets are using social media tools to enhance their reporting and to investigate the idea that these new tools and work flows will revolutionize journalism]

2) to get tips for communicators interacting with journalists in these forums and formulate best practices.

Some highlights from Brian's interview:

Using Social Media in Broadcast Journalism

With time lacking, use social media as a way to get out in the public and get to know your viewers, make "appearances"
Twitter is the real-time web and allows for instant feedback from viewers, get a quick read on sentiment or opinion about a story
Use Twitter for crowd sourcing and eyewitness accounts, but back those up with reporting to independently verify events
Used for news gathering such as crime in progress, weather events, and story ideas
Brian goes for a very genuine feel to his news reporting on air and in social networks. The station doesn't just feed out news on the Twitter channel, they also respond

Best Practices for Working with Broadcast Journalists Online

The "faces" of the news are often not the right person to pitch, Brian prefers to talk with "real people"
Brian says that the people who take pitched at the station are still old school and still pick up the phone (see contact info below)
Don't pitch journalists on their personal Twitter and Facebook pages, but in the case of Brian, feel free to interact
Be a real person, be genuine, share versus pitching. Engage in genuine interaction
Do not send auto direct messages from Twitter
Do not come on too strong or expect coverage

That said, please do take the time to watch the video, there are some nuances that I didn't catch in the write up and what Brian says is very interesting. He posted his video on his Vimeo site, where he has a series of Me Right Now videos that give a flavor for how authentic Brian really is. He understands that his personal and professional life intersect as a public persona and he lets his fans in the door. He has really blended social and traditional media to create a news hybrid that is more weighty and personal.

Social Media Video Interview from Brian Bolter on Vimeo.

Contacting Brian and Fox5:

Facebook: MyFox5

Twitter: @Fox5NewsEdge

Telephone:

MAIN: 202.244.5151
NEWSROOM:202.895.3000
NEWSROOM FAX:202.895.3133

Cool Tools: BuzzStream is Contact Management for Social Media

2009-06-09T14:35:00.001-07:00

As a social media and public relations consultant, I spend a lot of time online researching various blogs and publications within vertical interest areas. One of the things that I have found frustrating is manually keeping multiple lists of contacts and notes about each contact.

There are some extremely expensive tools. like Salesforce, and other CRM programs like ACT, which are cheaper but don't really address the needs of people looking to build relationships over time rather than sell stuff. Vocus has a built-in CRM-type management, but that is more aimed at sending out messages to a list, and it's pricey. There are many others as well, but BuzzStream seems different.

The Austin-based company was started by Paul May and Jeremy Bencken. Paul serves and the CEO and is a start-up junkie, with most of the last fifteen years either starting or working on early stage startups. Jeremy Bencken serves as chairman and is a software engineer, product manager and entrepreneur.

I asked Jeremy what the inspiration for BuzzStream was:

The inspiration for this came from the pain I had as an entrepreneur doing my own PR...What I realized after a while was that the key to success was doing very targeted, personalized outreach. However, I couldn’t find any tools that helped me manage my growing list of influencer relationships. The tools on the market were very expensive, but worse, they were all about spray-and-pray pitching, which was a big problem for me… My approach to finding journalists and bloggers was to monitor the news, find people writing about my area, and then reach out and start building a relationship. Then, when I had something newsworthy to talk about, I could just build on my existing relationship.

Bingo! This is exactly the way that I approach public relations, and the fact that the BuzzStream is geared toward this is very interesting to me.

Some of BuzzStream's Features I Like

Bookmarklets to capture data on the fly, in seconds
Auto Scan of blog/page to look for contact info and auto populate a new contact, then you add what only human eyes can see
Built-in Twitter search captures your conversations with contacts
Ability to add tags and sort your contact list by tag
Ability to import and export data (upcoming)
Metrics recorded for each media outlet or blog are PageRank, Compete Traffic, Technorati Rank, Yahoo Inbound Links and Site Age.
By putting a BuzzStream e-mail into your BCC field, the system will add the content of the email to your contact

Jeremy says they plan to add a number of other "mind blowing" features in the near term.

Certainly what I have seen so far is intriguing. Enough so that I started right away to think of features I would love to see. When I start doing this I know that I am falling in love with an application. Here are just a few of my ideas and thoughts:

Features I Would Like to See

Ability to add more than one Twitter account. I would like to be able to track conversations between myself and contacts, as well as between members of the team and these same contacts. Also, the ability to add more than one Twitter account per contact. Some have more than one Twitter account.

Ability to Group Backlinks by Client or Project. You can add as many Web sites as you would like (don't know if their is an upward limit) but they are all in one place, would be nice to group by client.

Ability to Delete Notes. Some of my contacts are also friends and may send me unrelated Tweets. It would be ideal to be able to delete notes, where Tweets are stored, on a case-by-case basis.

Ability to Send Tweets from Software. I think sending Tweets from the program would be helpful for workflow. The fact that you can send a tweet from anywhere you normally would and it gets picked up is cool, but when you are in the program looking up contacts, it would be very good if you could send directly then pick up responses in your tool of choice.

Link Building Pet Peeve. I realize some people go out to make agreements to trade links but as someone who is interested in earned media I find this practice abhorrent. BuzzStream allows you to organize these contacts as well, complete with a drop down menu that includes "link agreement" as a status. To each his own. I would call it something like, "agreed to publish." But this is nitpicky.

What It Will Cost

But what does it cost, you might ask? I asked too and here is what Jeremy said:

Our pricing is yet to be determined, but we priced the Link Building product at free, $50/mo for personal edition, $250/mo for company edition, and agency edition is individually tailored. One of my goals was to create a product that I myself would have been able to afford as a bootstrap entrepreneur, so that’s our general orientation.

For now you can try it for free and BuzzStream was so kind as to supply Communication Ovetones with 75 BuzzStream Beta invites to check out the new application. If you DO sign up, please let me know what your thoughts are on the new offering her or on Twitter @kamichat.

Mashable did a great job of showing you some screen captures, so be sure to go and take a look at them.

Don't Worry: How to Solve Any Problem

2009-06-03T11:58:00.001-07:00

If you can solve your problem, then what is the need of worrying? If you cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying? - Shantideva

One of the things I have learned in life is that worry never solves a problem and only serves to keep you up at night.

While I KNOW this, I often have to remind myself. Just last night I woke up around 3 a.m. and started to worry about a business problem. I had to tell myself to stop worrying. I quickly generated a few ideas about how to solve the problem and then easily fell back to sleep.

One of my old bosses did me a favor when he told me to never come to him with a problem unless I had a proposed solution. It was a great lesson.

Instead of worrying, why not spend that time generating alternatives? When you start to worry about something professional or personal, take out a notepad and start writing down possible solutions, even seemingly crazy ones.

Even if most of your ideas won't work, one of them might be the solution to your problem - or lead you to a solution.

Also, make a list of people with whom you can share your problem and then call, e-mail or "tweet" them and ask for their ideas about how to solve your problem.

Recently, a friend of mine who was reviewing the next steps for her career asked me to do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis about her job performance. What a great idea!

Ask your friends to do the same for you and you might be surprised with what they offer.

Use adversity as a way to grow and in a few years you will look back and see it as a pivotal turning point.

How does this have anything to do with PR and communication, you might ask? It has EVERYTHING to do with it. What is communication if not a series of problems to be solved with innovative ideas?

How do you stop worrying? Would love to hear your story.

Photo provided by Shutterstock

5 Best Practices to Maximize Your Participation in a Twitter Chat

2009-05-27T14:22:00.001-07:00

It seems that there is a Twitter chat for everything these days. The problem, of course, is that the Twitter platform is terrible for having a coherent exchange of ideas. However, once you get used to it, you often get a lot out of the chats. If nothing else you meet some great new contacts on Twitter. But you still may be wondering how to participate in a Twitter chat. (If you are a pro skip to the 5 Best Practices).

In order to participate you need a Twitter account and some kind of search program to keep up with the action. I usually add a search column in my TweetDeck program with the hashtag to keep up. You can also use the Twitter Search function - just enter the hashtag as a search term.

What is a hashtag you ask? A hashtag is some text that is preceded by the pound sigh (#hashtag) appended onto the end of the Twitter message that allows a group of people, who aren’t necessarily following each other, to engage in a conversation.

A nifty service called “What the Hashtag” has definitions of many of the hashtags that are in common use. You can also check out a recap and transcript of the most recent chat about SEO and blogs as an example of what goes on in these things.

Here are some of my favorite chats:

BLOGCHAT: On Sunday nights at 8-9 CT there is #blogchat with @MackCollier, author of the Viral Garden blog

HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATION: or if you are into health care you can chat with #hcsm with @danamlewis also on Sunday nights from 8-9 CT

JOURNCHAT: Monday nights is #journchat from 8-10CT with @PRsarahevans, author of a blog by the same name, PRSarahEvans

PR 2.0 CHAT: On Wednesday nights is #pr20chat with @BethHarte from 7-8 CT, she is author of the Harte of Marketing blog

5 Twitter Chat Best Practices

Relevance: Only use the hashtag on posts that directly pertain to the topic set out by the moderator. If you start a side conversation with someone in the chat drop the hashtag
Spam Free: Do not flog thy wares or ask people to support you in a competition during the chat, this is bad form
Links: Feel free to share links to your own posts if they directly pertain to the topic at hand, but be judicious in how many you give
More Links: Link to other’s work and make recommendations to others in the chat to follow people that have expertise in the area being discussed, they might even show up to participate if you call them out
Retweet Sparingly: Only Retweet, or resend posts that would be of broad interest to your followers. Be sure to add enough context to these Retweets so as not to be confusing to those not participating in the chat

Share Your Best Practices and Tools

Now it is your turn, share your tips for participating in a chat. Here are some questions to get started.

· What tools and techniques do you use when you participate in a chat?

· What are your favorite chats?

· What would you add or change about the Twitter Best Practices?

Image provided by Shutterstock.com

Remembrance: Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-24T17:50:00.001-07:00

Attitude Adjustment

2009-05-22T21:25:00.001-07:00

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you deal with it.

-Charles Swindoll

Credits:

Image provided by Shutterstock, a royalty-free stock photo service

Quote via via @EstherSteinfeld

CDC Shares Its Web Analytics: Shows Effectiveness of Social Media Projects

2009-05-21T09:32:00.001-07:00

Through an article on the Huffington Post by Craig Newmark, the founder of Craig's List (whom I interviewed late last year), I found out that the CDC has opened up the analytics for the CDC Website to the public.

This is interesting from a number of perspectives:

Political: Open government is not just talk
Content: There is really useful data about what people are looking for that can be harnessed by the health care industry
Measurement: It opens up some great ideas for people looking for ways to measure their online communication
Best Practice: It gives a comprehensive look at their online and social media campaign as well as actionable data on how well each tactic is working.

There are many ideas to mine out of what the CDC is doing. Take a look at the most popular pages on the CDC Website. Not surprisingly a lot them center around healthy weight, traveler's health and sexually transmitted diseases:

With data like these the CDC can make course corrections and provide more relevant content. Additionally, we all can learn from the data and get an idea of how other organizations are approaching online communication.

What do you think about the CDC doing this? Is it a good idea? What can we all learn from it?

Media Profile: Journalists and Social Media Robert Quigley, Statesman.com

2009-05-19T09:22:00.001-07:00

Robert Quigley is the Internet editor for statesman.com and Austin360.com. His job is to make sure news is getting onto the sites quickly and as completely as possible. He works with various newsroom departments to push for content. The other part of his job is to coordinate the Austin American-Statesman's participation in social media.

Robert is very active in the Austin social media community

Robert was behind a set of awards that honored people who were notable in their use of social media.

He co-writes a blog, Old Media New Tricks, that focuses on how journalism is changing.

Robert is indicative of a new kind of media professional that lives online and serves news in byte sized pieces.

What is your job at the Statesman, and how do you see social media changing that job? Obviously, the Web changed the way the newspaper does business. We switched from having a midnight deadline for having all our material ready to needing news updated around the clock. My job is to make sure we stay on top of that. My other main responsibility is to be our social media coordinator. When I started in this position in January 2007, that mainly meant working with our community of reader bloggers that we host on our site. As time has gone on, that has obviously changed greatly with the rise of mainstream acceptance of social media.
You once participated in squashing some rumors about an alleged "shooter" on a roof of a bar in Austin, this didn’t turn out to be the case. Can you us what happened? Social media is fantastic tool, and it does give a lot of people a chance to be reporters. Anyone who witnesses an event can potentially get his or her observations out to the masses quickly. We had an incident in Austin in April in which police initially said that there was a man, possibly with a gun, on top of a downtown bar. I was monitoring Twitter that night through Twitter Search and saw some of the eyewitness reports - and a lot of speculation. We had a reporter head to the scene pretty quickly who had access to police. It turns out the guy was not a threat at all. We were able to kill the rumors (including that the guy had hostages) that were floating around Twitter through verification and access. I wrote a column about that for Media Bullseye.
Which social networks do you use professionally, if any? I spend most of my time on Twitter for work. I am the voice behind the @statesman account, and I am also in charge of a few automated accounts (weather, traffic, etc). I'm the "Twitter guy" here at work, so I also help set up, train and coach our staff. I also help manage @mediatricks with Daniel Honigman, my blog's co-author and the guy behind @ColonelTribune. Outside of Twitter, I am the community manager for an old-school form of social networking - a bulletin board. I am the top community manager for Hookem, our Longhorns bulletin board.
Do you use social networks personally, and do you keep these accounts separate or combined? I use Twitter (as @robquig). I know a lot of people use one account for business and personal, but since the @statesman is a corporate account, I don't think that would work. I also use Facebook and LinkedIn and have dabbled with StumbleUpon and Digg.
Which social network do you find most useful and why? You've probably guessed it by now, but I'm a believer in Twitter as a great tool for journalists. It allows us to interact with our community in ways never before possible, all while sharing news and building our brand. It also does bring in decent page views to our sites. The interaction is what I like best. People ask me questions all the time, like, "Why are there fire trucks surrounding a building?" or "What is there to do this weekend?" and I try to answer them all. People really appreciate that. In return, I get 3 to 5 usable news tips a week through Twitter, a community of loyal users who really appreciate our efforts to reach out -- and new unique users checking out our sites.
What are some of the ways that you use social networks? I'm not really a reporter, but we have more than 40 staffers on Twitter, and they use it to gain tips, garner feedback do source work, etc. Personally, I have used it during big news events to gather user-generated content and to gain tips (which I generally pass along to assigning editors and reporters). A good example of how I use it: When we had a freak snow shower this past winter, I asked people on Twitter to share their pics and videos. I received dozens of photos, mainly through Twitpic, that we used in a weather gallery. We also led our home page (statesman.com) with some of those pictures from Twitter. We've done that many times with various events. I ask for permission to run the pics and then credit them (like "Photo by @kamichat, via Twitter).
What is the most interesting story you have found due to connections or pitches you received through a social network? I have passed along some great tips I have received from Twitter that turned out to be good stories. Most have been small, local-impact stories. That's good, though, because to be a comprehensive local news site, having those extra tips really helps.
What is the biggest faux pas that you have experienced on a social network by someone looking to get you to cover a story? I get pitched by PR folks about five times a week on the @statesman account. I do get annoyed when people DM me demanding that I tweet about their company's new product or tell us that we have to cover something. It's awkward, and I often have a hard time explaining why I can't send out a tweet to our 8,500 followers about their products or services. Even a retweet by me looks like the Statesman endorses something, which may not be desired.

Although I'm very personable on @statesman, I'm also very careful about what I post. Being a corporate media account on a social network only works when we play within the rules of social networks: give relevant information, don't spam, listen and interact with your followers, etc. Considering I'm trying my best to keep things relevant and interesting, posting randomly about your new product that the vast majority of our followers don't care about would be a faux pas. It's worse when I actually know and like the person doing the pitching because it is even more awkward to say no. Please, if you must pitch, know ahead of time what I normally post -- and ask nicely.
What is the ideal way to get your attention in a social network? I watch all @replies and DMs on Twitter pretty carefully. I'm also a Twitter Search addict, so just mentioning the word "Statesman" will likely also get my attention ;) If you have what you think would be a good pitch, you can DM or @reply or e-mail me. Since I don't report and I'm not really even an assignments editor, I'll relay your information to the right place within the newsroom.
What other reporters or media folk do you think are doing this well. Daniel Honigman, @ColonelTribune is my blog's co-author and a really smart guy who has a mind for PR as well. Also, I think Omar Gallaga @omarg is one of the best.

Contact Robert Quigley:

Follow him on Twitter @Stateman for news updates (great for getting news on your mobile)

Check out the other profiles in the series on the Media Profile page.

BlogMonday: The Blog Roll is Dead? Au contraire, Long Live the Blogroll

2009-05-18T14:11:00.001-07:00

A few years ago there was a trend afoot to kill the blogroll. Deep links in context were better, or so the argument went.

I could see their point.

However, I never killed off my blogroll because it is valuable for my readers. In fact, my stats show that people DO look at the blogs in my sidebar. In my new design, the blogs also have a clip from their last post and the date when they last published.

I do take it to heart that it is better to explain WHY someone appears in that esteemed list. Not only that, I think that the popularity of Twitter has really hampered the development of new ideas in favor of quick thoughts. It has quite simply sucked up all of our thinking time.

Last week I was challenged by Mark Story to join in on what he is calling Blog Monday. He was kind enough to feature this blog last week and challenged each of us to do the same for blogs we love. I am going to take my blogroll four at a time for the next few weeks and tell you why they are my favorites:

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

Beth Kanter is well known for her energy and her dedication to people who are using social media for non-profit causes. I first "met" Beth in 2007 when she started to activity comment and link to this blog, I soon found that her content was consistently interesting and enlightening. She is also very creative. Her posts often have a new way of looking at old problems.

The Buzz Bin

Geoff Livingston is a good friend, but that is not why I love his blog. Geoff is one of the most consistent bloggers I know, and everything on his blog has an eye toward service. He has an editorial plan and it shows. Sometimes he is even a little edgy. If you want to know what is important in the marketing and public relations social media sphere, you need to be reading Geoff's blog.

a shel of my former self

Shel Holtz is the popular co-host of the podcast For Immediate Release, which is an easy way to stay up-to-date with new media/social media in just two hours a week. He is also a prolific author of several books on social media and podcasting. His blog is an in-depth look at social media from a communications perspective. You can count on it to be insightful and rich in observation. He was already a legend when I started blogging in 2005, and he still always takes time out to help me out whenever I ask.

Global Neighbourhoods

Shel Israel (different from Shel Holtz above) is the well known blogger that authored Naked Conversations with Robert Scoble and who is currently authoring a second book called Twitterville, which is on preorder at Amazon.com. I like Shel because he looks for the diamonds and writes about them. He is an unabashed social media evangelist, but he is looking for the real-world examples. His site has is the richest in case studies on the web.

Government 2.0: Social Media and Networking Enter a Golden Age

2009-05-13T11:07:00.001-07:00

I am speaking to several government clients this week and have been doing a deep dive into the use of social media in government. I have been pleasantly surprised by the growing number of government agencies that are using social media, and using it well.

One of my favorite blogs I found during the search is the Transportation Safety Administration's Evolution of Security blog. It's funny and engaging, though there are plenty of determined detractors in the comment stream - which often tops 100 per post.

Over the past few months government agencies have been launching social networking profiles with varying degrees of success. For instance, the CDC used its CDCEmergency profile on Twitter to keep people up-to-date on the swine flu (H1N1) as it unfolded earlier this month. The profile quickly gained followers and now has nearly 140,000 followers. As many "emergency" channels are want to do, the profile merely sends out information with no meaningful "conversation" taking place. It's one of teh biggest gripes I have with government social media channels.

Part of the reason for the more recent social media land grab is that the commander in chief has made it a priority.

On May 6, 2009, a Time article about the White House social networking reported that on U.S. President Barack Obama's first full day in office on Jan. 21, he signed an Executive Order calling for all departments and agencies to "establish a system of transparency, public participation and collaboration."

Despite your political leanings, this new administration will be studied in future generations as being the first that made good use of new two-way channels of digital communication.

One example of this is the way in which the administration is soliciting input. The White House announced on its blog that its Office of the Public Liaison would be renamed to the Office of Public Engagement and would be tasked with an "updated" mission.

I assume that this new office will be tasked with more projects like the Citizen's Briefing Book (pdf), which emanated from Change.gov. This website operated during the transition to solicit ideas and allow people to vote on them in a Digg-like format. In the end 125,000 users submitted over 44,000 ideas and cast over 1.4 million votes.

Government 2.0: Strategies and Tactics

View more presentations from Kami Huyse.

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When the Cost of Blogging Goes Beyond a Mere Business Model

2009-05-07T07:07:00.001-07:00

While here in the US the discussion around journalism centers on its broken business model and how it will adapt to new media, around the world some are paying a much higher cost.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says that as of December there were 125 journalists in jail around the globe, with 56 of those online journalists. The number continues to grow. For instance, Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi is now serving a trumped up sentence in Iran,

In many of the more repressive governments, like China, the only way to disseminate unbiased journalism is online, through blogs and other means.

When reading an Op-Ed this morning about this growing problem, I was introduced to the Global Network Initiative. Google, Yahoo and Mocrosoft are all members of this group:

[GNI is] a multi-stakeholder group of companies, civil society organizations (including human rights and press freedom groups), investors and academics spent two years negotiating and creating a collaborative approach to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in the ICT sector, and have formed an Initiative to take this work forward

As part of this group these companies promise to not be complicit in the oppression of bloggers.

It gave me pause to keep perspective. In some places of the world, the cost to be a blogger is freedom.

What are your thoughts?

Media Profile: Journalists and Social Media Laura Lorek, San Antonio Express News

2009-05-05T09:09:00.001-07:00

Laura Lorek is a senior writer for the San Antonio Express-News. She covers business and technology and authors the Tech Clicks blog. She is also a power user of Twitter and uses it in her reporting.

I think that the ability to effectively use social media and networking are critical for today’s journalist. Laura shares some insightful thoughts about how the gathering and reporting of news is changing. She also outlines how she uses different social networking tools for different tasks. She also talks about some of the ways she looks for stories online.

Which social networks do you use professionally? Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, MySpace (very little), Friend Feed (seldom) and Second Life
Do you also use social networks personally, and do you keep these accounts separate or combined? Both – personal and business. Trained journalists act as observers of the news and remain neutral and unbiased and they do not to participate in it. But social networks and the Internet have changed the way news gets disseminated through bloggers and citizen journalists. It's also changing the way newsrooms and traditional journalists operate. We need to be more accessible to the people we cover and social networks make that possible.
Which social network do you find most useful and why? Twitter because it’s in real-time and allows for a lot of interactivity. Twitter adds value to my reporting because it enables me to reach more readers and potential sources and I'm exposed to new ideas constantly. I often ask questions on Twitter to find sources for stories I’m working on with immediate deadlines. Twitter is also a place to generate fresh ideas. It's like a massive college coffeehouse filled with some geniuses along side stoners, jocks, losers, lurkers, comedians, entertainers, musicians, artists, business executives, employees, entrepreneurs, students and innovators. It's the best place to hang out. It takes me back to my college days when people actually discussed important issues along with mundane everyday stuff. Twitter is a powerful, empowering place.

I also like Facebook because it keeps me in touch with colleagues around the country. LinkedIn is great for networking , career building and job searching. I also like the question and answer section and I like to read the updates from people in my network. Tools like RSS feeds, Technorati, Facebook and Twitter help us find specialized topics in the avalanche of information produced daily.
What are some of the ways that you use social networks in your reporting? When a reporter needed to find people buying the new iPhone, I sent out a Tweet and immediately found a guy standing in line at the Northstar Mall Apple store waiting in line. He had his old phone with him and he sent me his phone number and we interviewed him for the story. Another time I needed to find people shopping online for Cyber Monday, I sent out a tweet and found a guy whose wife planned to do all their Christmas shopping online. They were skiing on Black Friday – one of the busiest shopping days of the year – in New Mexico, far from the crowded shopping malls. They actually called me on their cell phone from the ski slopes. Another time, the health reporter who sits next to me wanted to find someone who had lost more than 100 pounds for a New Year’s feature on weight loss. I sent out a Tweet and found a guy in San Antonio who lost more than 100 pounds while training for a marathon. Recently I did a story on stress affecting people who are in jobs and laid off recently and I found five of the sources quoted in the story from Twitter.

One of the main things I’ve noticed is these are people who have not been in the paper before. These are fresh sources and not the tried and true sources reporters often call after developing relationships with them over the years. Lately, when I don’t know something, I find myself turning to Twitter to ask my network of experts to help me. It’s a wonderful resource and I’m grateful for it. I’m also finding myself relying on Twitter’s built in search engine (which I’m testing) to track various topics including San Antonio, technology, journalism, social media and more. Aside from Twitter, I’ve used LinkedIn to send messages to sources and to reach people. I also keep track of local events taking place through notices on various technology groups I belong to on Facebook.
Do your editors encourage your use of social media in your reporting? My editors encourage the use of new technology in the newsroom and we're constantly experimenting with new tools. I also blog, do video stories, dabble in Second Life and I've tried out podcasting. I used to regularly appear on TV to do a five minute business report on Sundays with KENS until our partnership expired in January and I often do radio interviews. So reporting in different mediums is not new.
What is the most interesting story you have ever covered due to connections or pitches you received through a social network? It’s hard to pick just one. I’ve made so many contacts through social networks. Those contacts have led to dozens of stories. One of my favorite, though, is on co-working or groups of freelance workers who gather together in San Antonio to work at various locations. Another story I did was on unconferences in San Antonio including Startup Weekend San Antonio, Barcamp San Antonio, Podcamp San Antonio and more. I’m currently working on a half dozen stories on the economy and I’m communicating with sources and finding new people to interview through Twitter.
What is the biggest faux pas that you have experienced on a social network by someone looking to get you to cover a story? A PR woman who sent me several direct messages, e-mails and called me to cover a blog post item on a new contract her company had landed. And sometimes people post things that I wish I never read about them. One guy retweeted something I posted on Twitter with a snarky and mean remark. I may have misinterpreted it and that’s one of the problems with social networks they can breed too much familiarity. Another guy I respected posted something on his personal blog that gave me a whole different view of him and I no longer enjoy chatting with him because I keep thinking about that post. It was really creepy.
What is the ideal way to get your attention in a social network?
Be smart, interesting and funny.

Here is a recent article that Laura wrote about how she uses Twitter for her reporting.

Monday Skills: Develop a Language of Symbols to Unleash Creativity

2009-05-04T07:46:00.001-07:00

Lately I haven't felt all that creative. In fact, with the crushing responsibilities brought on by returning to work after the birth of a new baby (#3) I have felt as pressed as a flower in a dictionary.

One way to break out of a creative slump is to visualize a project or a plan. I like to map out my speeches, and sometimes even my blog posts, in my notebook. Recently, I also downloaded FreeMind, a (free) tool that allows you to make and share mindmaps.

This weekend I was unexpectedly confronted with my own slump when I attended a class for my son's upcoming baptism. I was handed a drawing book and told that I would have to illustrate the ceremony in the book. I realized it was a long time since I had participated in an art project, though I do help my 5-year-old from time to time.

It got me to thinking about how I could bring some life and creativity back to my work and break out of my linear "to do" list. It also made me think of the role this blog could play in helping to do that.

With those thoughts swirling, I ran across the following presentation by Kelsey Ruger of the Moleskin (and also a fellow Houstonian). What was new to me in this presentation was the idea of developing a language of creative symbols (see pp. 35, 36, 41), and use them in your mindmapping exercises.

How do you get your creative mind working? Let's share and make the world a more creative place. I am off to pick up some watercolors for my project.

Visual and Creative Thinking:What We Learned From Peter Pan and Willy Wonka

View more presentations from Kelsey Ruger.

Crushed Paper Photo by Marcus Lim

Fun Friday: Twitter Goes Mainstream, Early Adopters Worry About Change

2009-04-17T14:08:00.001-07:00

Sometimes we forget, in the midst of celebrity showdowns and concern over changes in the community, that Twitter (and other services like it) are just tools.

Some companies will use them to build bridges with their customers and some will use them to push out information. It's the same with non-commercial users, some are using Twitter as an entertaining pastime, some are interested in networking and still others are interested in keeping in touch with a close circle of friends. Still others have no use for it whatever.

It's not about the purity (or popularity) of the tool, but about the mircro-communities that use the tools. As hot as Twitter is today, we will probably be doing something else next year if our friends move on to something else.

So let the celebs use the tool as they will, and let those that follow them hold them to account with their vote. The nice thing about Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools is that they are opt in.

Can a purist case be made to use the tool in a way in which is most powerful, as a relationship building platform?

Of course, but because it is a tool, people will use it in a number of ways.

At this point, you might wonder why I called this serious missive Fun Friday, to which I say "watch this video and LIGHTEN UP people." AS I tweeted earlier today:

Ironic that we want people to join Twitter than hate on them when they do!

Acquisitions a Sign That Social Media is Maturing, Livingston and CRT/tanaka

2009-04-09T01:49:00.001-07:00

Social media is starting to mature. There is no better sign of this than when firms start to acquire talent. There is rumblings of this all around the social media and communications firms.

Connie Reece's company, Every Dot Connects, was recently acquired by New Media Lab in Austin. On the heels of that announcement comes the news today that Livingston Communications, owned by Geoff Livingston, the author of the popular Buzz Bin blog, was acquired by CRT/tanaka. Geoff will remain on as a senior vice president. Geoff is also the author of "Now is Gone: A Primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs.”

Last year, Livingston Communications nearly merged with the Social Media Group, but that deal fell through. In the way of full disclosure, I do have a connection with Geoff Livingston and Livingston Communication as a contractor.

I asked Geoff to answer some questions that I think people will have, Here were his frank answers:

Question: When you talked about merger with SMG you really hit on the idea of a purist social media practice, CRT/tanaka takes an integrated approach? What gives? Which one do you advocate?

Geoff: I think people said that was a purist approach, but if you look at this post you will see au contraire: We never said it was stand alone, and that ultimately social media must be integrated. The CRT/tanaka acquisition simply accelerates that move for me.

Question: What happens to the BuzzBin?

Geoff: It keeps going as is, authored by me, but is now owned by CRT/tanaka. If I ever depart I will have to go re-earn my Google jujitsu.

Question: Will you be censored there?

Geoff: I really don’t think so. The see the writing on the wall and want to be a top quadrant social media-capable communications firm. Our goal is not to be the social media department, it’s to push social media as a capability across the front line and execute as an agency on interactive, in PR and through advertising with the ability to intelligently engage stakeholders in meaningful two-way conversations.

Not everyone will be as opinionated as me, but there are already some voices inside the company who are using these tools. We want to encourage more voices, not stifle the ones who are already out there.

Question: Why are you merging now?

Geoff: Because it was the right deal at the right time for me. I don’t want to be the man, or the most popular guy on the Internet, and so having a CEO title doesn’t mean anything to me. What means something to me is becoming more available to my family, and doing great things that impact our society through clients, through openness and transparency, and through the embracing of public responsibility for our society’s issues, and the charitable efforts to resolve those problems.

Question: What will you be able to do with CRT/tanaka that you couldn’t do with Livingston Communications, what kind of services can you provide?

Geoff: A lot more. I feel like I went from 100 hp four cylinder engine to turbocharged V8 BMW M5. Further, CRT/tanaka’s presence in NY and LA makes me feel like we have the three most important communications markets in the country covered. We have access to major consumer experiences now, and as a nimble mid-size company, I feel like we can compete with the Edelmans and Ogilvys of the world.

Question: Will Livingston Communication be a subsidiary or will you become CRT/tanaka?

Geoff: Livingston is gone. We are CRT/tanaka.

You can also read Geoff's take on the acquisition at the Buzz Bin.

Photo by the inimitable Beth Harte at the SxSW All Hat...No Cattle party

Media Profile: Journalists and Social Media. Dwight Silverman, Houston Chronicle

2009-04-08T15:01:00.001-07:00

Dwight Silverman is the Interactive Journalism Editor for the Houston Chronicle and the online Chron.com. His Tech Blog is filled with great advice for the average person that is just trying to get their computer to work, along with great info for what I like to call the "gadgetist," or those that love and use gadgets.

I have followed Dwight on Twitter for sometime @dsilverman, and noticed how effectively he uses the medium in a conversational manner. If you follow him, you can expect links to his blog, but interspersed with interesting commentary and interaction.

I asked him to be my first Media Profile Interview because I think he is getting that mix between hard journalism and social interaction right, and I think that will be a key for the survival of journalism. He also makes some great point about (and how NOT) to reach journalists through social media.

1. Which social networks do you use professionally? Twitter mostly; Facebook a little.

2. Do you also use social networks personally, and do you keep these accounts separate or combined? I use Twitter in a personal way occasionally, in that I sometimes address my friends through it, or I talk about recreational things I'm doing that might be interesting to others - seeing a movie, going to a festival, eating at an interesting restaurant. But Twitter is primarily how I interact with those who interested in my tech-related writing and experiences. Facebook is probably more my "personal" social network, but I am not that active on it. I guess I'm more of a "lurker" there.

3. Which social network do you find most useful and why? Twitter, for sure. I think Twitter is incredibly important for journalists, because it allows them to interact closely with the people they cover; other journalists; and their audiences. It's also an incredible resource for information - you can ask a question and, if you have a critical mass of followers, you're likely to get a useful answer. Finally, it's also become the ultimate breaking news service. If something is happening, you are very likely to find out about it first via Twitter.

4. What are some of the ways (say 5 or so) that you use social networks in your reporting? I use Twitter to keep a close eye on what Houston Twitter users - particularly those who are involved in tech - are saying. I also use it to test column and blog ideas. I've used Twitter as a kind of informal polling system, asking users what they think of a particular topic. I've used it to recruit people to help with news coverage. And, of course, I've used it as a liveblog for events I'm covering. Afterwards, the updates I've posted also become my notes for a later blog post or even a print column or story.

5. What is the most interesting story you have ever covered due to connections or pitches you received through a social network? Probably the recent series of cable cuts suffered by AT&T in north Texas, which caused the data network for many of its Texas wireless users to go down. I found out about it through Twitter, then used Twitter to determine the breadth and length of the outage. Another one: We used Twitter to recruit people to help us cover the Democratic caucuses during the Texas primary. We had 5-6 folks use Twitter to say what was happening inside their caucuses, and then we posted those entries in a blog.

6. What is the biggest faux pas that you have experienced on a social network by someone looking to get you to cover a story? I've had only one PR person try to pitch me publicly, in old-school fashion, via Twitter. It's intrusive and jarring. It's not appropriate, and feels that way.

7. What is the ideal way to get your attention in a social network? Be real and interesting, and contribute things of actual value to the ongoing conversation. If you're shilling, that comes across quickly and it doesn't work in social media. Have something worthwhile to say, and contribute meaningfully to the overall community.

You can contact Dwight Silverman via email at dwight.silverman@chron.com or on Twitter.

Social Media Provides the Tools to Make Positive Change

2009-03-31T09:05:00.001-07:00

Michelle Greer, a web marketing strategist and blogger in Austin for Discovery blogs recently won the overall social media award from the Austin American-Statesman. I was very fortunate to be honored with 25 other social media leaders as well. I was glad I was there, if only to hear Michelle's impromptu speech. Here is what the judges said about her:

A geek's geek and tireless social activist, Michelle Greer most recently was instrumental in raising thousands of dollars for Charity: Water at the successful Austin Twestival. She's been a driving force in Geek Austin, has helped Science Channel viewers learn with her Nerdabout videos and has helped pull together blood drives and social events for Burmese refugees. Said one commenter for this award, "Michelle sees solutions to problems. She's found, in social media, a powerful tool to find these solutions and makes it look really simple." If you've ever been pulled into a project with Greer and found yourself doing something incredible and for a good cause before you even knew what was happening, you know what it's like to get Michelle Greer'd. She proves that social media is even more powerful when your heart is truly in it.

We have some powerful communication tools in social media and it is inherent upon us to go beyond the tools to responsibly using the tools to make a difference in our communities. As Michelle righly points out, as a nation we are in "a bit of a jam" and we have more tools than most to make a difference. Forward the video to 5:30 to hear what Michelle had to say. I promise that it will be worth your time.

Photo and Art by First Light Glass

How To: The Secrets for Gaming Twitter Are Free, and Why It Doesn't Matter Anyway

2009-03-11T14:10:00.001-07:00

Let me start by saying that I have never gamed Twitter to get more followers. Moreover, I am personally opposed to it, mostly because it makes no sense. More on that in a moment...

So if you came to this page looking for a way to game Twitter, I will share it with you in a few seconds, courtesy of my friend Jim Turner (@Genuine). Jim outlined these four steps in his BlogTalk Radio Show Social Mediasphere (he says there are five but I collapsed steps 3 and 4). In an experiment, Jim easily amassed thousands of Twitter followers in a matter of days - no content or messy relationships required.

But wait!

Before you jump to the 4 Steps to Game Twitter, found at the end of this post, take just a minute to read about why it doesn't matter.

Why It Doesn't Matter

Having thousands of followers will get you nowhere without the reputation, influence and content of the person behind the Twitter account.

Twitter is full of folks with 30,000 followers and zero social capital" - Doctor_V

You can have thousands of followers and be completely unable to drive the traffic or interest that someone with only a few thousand followers can.

So why bother getting a bunch followers that could care less about who you are or what you do? Followers who in fact are only following you so that you will follow them.

If your goal is to be truly influential, or to drive sales, interest and attention, then gaming is pointless. Having thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of followers will not ensure success on Twitter.

Twitter as a Small Village

Twitter was started in March of 2006 and was launched in August 2006, but most everyone agrees that it really took off in March of 2007 at South by Southwest in Austin where it was used as a real time communication tool by some of the most connected people on the web at that time. It became a stand alone company in May 2007.

The platform was very personal at first. For instance, here is my first Tweet on January 2, 2007, from my Twitter account (Kamichat):

My first tweet, January 2, 2007

People who followed you actually knew you and you had mutual influence on each other becasue there was trust.

Some of the early adopters who were influential in other arenas, like @scobelizer, said they would follow anyone who followed them and quickly amassed thousands of followers. However, they were capitalizing on their previous popularity.

KEY: They did not become popular because of the number of followers, but rather had thousands of followers because they were already popular.

I also believe this is why President (and then candidate) Barack Obama was able to amass so many followers so quickly. First, he was popular outside of Twitter and second, he chose Twitter as a platform upon which to make important announcements, driving people to follow and even sign up for Twitter (especially journalists).

This isn't gaming the system. Gaming occurs when a regular Joe takes advantage of the way the system works to make him or herself APPEAR popular.

So without further ado, I am going to share Jim Turner's four steps to game Twitter. With these steps he was able to amass over 6K followers in about a week or so on a dummy account he created, then deleted.

Four Steps To Game Twitter

1. Sign up for a Twitter account, creative name gets you extra credit but isn't necessary

2. Automatically follow people with similar interests by searching for specific keywords and autofollowing people. One of the most well-known services for this is Twollo

3. Sign up for all of the services that help you manage your followers: SocialToo, TweetLater, My Tweeple (my fav) Friend or Follow, Mr. Tweet, TweetSum and others. Use them to unfollow anyone who doesn't follow you, preferably leaving only those that autofollow. Rinse and repeat this step daily.

5. Be sure that you auto follow people so others like you will add you.

Net Effect: Everyone would have thousands of followers making following numbers even more meaningless than they are now.

WARNING: DO NOT PAY FOR FOLLOWERS. There are some very fishy and unethical services that offer to sell you a list of 100 people who will autofollow you (the people on the list have no idea they are on it) and there are others that offer a completely unethical multilevel marketing approach where you add yourself to the list and auto follow those above you in the scheme.

DISCLAIMER: Before I get hate mail from the service providers and their fans...Any of these steps, taken separately, is not unethical and in fact, could be helpful to your Twitter experience. The overall strategy is what I am questioning.

Also, if you think I am crazy for offering up a strategy that has been proven to work to game the system, consider this: Many people are trying to make a fast buck off of misguided people who see the following number as critical part of the Twitter experience.

I agree with Jim Turner that we should freely expose all the hacks possible in order to render the black market useless and moreover, to help Twitter take action against the more egregious breaches.

The Backlash

Personal Use

Kyle Flaherty had a great post about what it was like in the old days of Twitter, why we were all so excited about it and why many of us have lost that loving feeling.
Jim Connolly, who amassed his 20,000 followers organically, explains why he zeroed out his Account and is starting over.

Business Use

I wrote yesterday that Twitter might be considering selling pre-loaded packs of people/businesses to follow on Twitter for its new users. The problem with these is that there is no relationship, so the content had better be spectacular
Businesses should assess WHY they are using Twitter, and come up with a corresponding strategy to engage there. Forget gaming to get your follower numbers up. Stay tuned for Twitter strategy later this week...

And if you read this far you deserve a bonus, here is my Delicious tag with Twitter Hacks to which I will continue to add as I find them.

Is Twitter Out on a Limb? Plan to Monitize May Include Pre-Loaded Content

2009-03-09T14:18:00.001-07:00

I registered for @Kamichat as my Twitter account in early 2007 it never occurred to me that I should also register my real name too. Just yesterday I did what I should have done some time ago and registered KamiHuyse to protect my online identity.

I was very surprised when my account came preloaded with 20 people that I was supposedly "following."

It made me wonder, has Twitter found a piece of its ultimate business model?

Some of the accounts are household names like 50 cent and Martha Stuart. Mixed in are companies like Whole Foods and Google, as well as more edgy people, like Perez Hilton. It also looks like Twitter's founder Biz Stone couldn't resist getting in on the action too, which reminded me of our "friend" Tom on MySpace.

Twitter is infinitely more useful and interesting when your Twitter stream is full of interesting people and content. Having some preloaded content holds some benefits for everyone.

For new users it gives a place to start
For those included it gives added credibility and follower numbers
For Twitter it provides possible monitization and helps to retain new users

The big drawback is that the power of Twitter lies in the users ability to customize their Twitter stream. Then again, there is nothing saying you can't unfollow these folks - which was my first instinct

Many other networks use this model. For instance, when you get a MyYahoo page it comes preloaded with RSS feeds. This isn't a new concept and is less intrusive than most. It also isn't enough to pay for Twitter, but it is an interesting experiment.

On Twitter's about page, they say the following about finding a revenue model, "We are holding off on implementation for now because we don't want to distract ourselves from the more important work at hand...."

It seems that while they are still spending more money than they make, the research phase for a business model is also well under way.

Below are the 20 people that it was predetermined I would follow on my new Twitter page. What do you think of this list? How does this idea strike you as a revenue model? Do you think that paying for followers is a good business strategy?

You follow 20 people. Invite more!

Agent_M / Agent M

TerryMoran / Terry Moran

nprscottsimon / Scott Simon

NBA

alleyinsider / SiliconAlleyInsider

DaveJMatthews

google / A Googler

pennjillette / Penn Jillette

tonyhawk / Tony Hawk

johncmayer / John Mayer

tonyrobbins / Tony Robbins

50cent

themoment / The Moment

perezhilton / Perez Hilton

WholeFoods / Whole Foods Market

MarthaStewart / Martha Stewart

someecards

jack / Jack Dorsey

defamer / Defamer

biz / Biz Stone

UPDATE:
I truly discovered this list on my own, but it turns out I missed some of the buzz about this a few weeks ago. Of course, I am on maternity leave, so I should get a pass.

Texas Has a Vibrant Social Media Scene, Really...

2009-02-18T12:47:00.001-08:00

With the South by Southwest Interactive (SxSWi) festival set to kick off early next month the Austin American Statesman, the newspaper of the Texas State Capital, made a call for nominations for a Texas Social Media Award.

Somehow, I was one of the 125 people nominated for the award and while I was off in the hospital having a new baby (Logan Huyse), some very generous people said some very very nice things, for which I am grateful.

A panel of judges from the paper, including Omar Gallaga (@omarg), Addie Broyles (@broylesa) and Robert Quigley (@robquig and @statesman) then culled the list down to 25. Somehow, I made that cut too. The criteria they used to judge us included looking for people who had given back to the community. If that is the reason for which I was chosen for the award than I am truly humbled and honored. To give back and share is the whole reason I started this blog and that I continue to write and participate.

I was also amazed by the depth of the social media community in Texas. The award winners are an amazing group of people, and the ones that I don't already know I am making a point of adding to my network.

I suggest that you check them out too. Even if you don't live in Texas, I think you will find them an amazing group of people.

Henry “Rizoh” Adaso, Houston. Music journalist specializing in rap and hip-hop.

Joshua Baer, Austin. Developed OtherInBox.com, software to streamline e-mail use.

Perry Belcher, Austin. Perry Belcher, Austin. Marketing strategist who blogs on topics from startups to real estate.

Michael Chapman, Austin. Former lobbyist who co-founded both Social Media Club Austin and the International Social Media Club.

J.R. Cohen, Houston. Café manager who uses Yelp, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with customers.

Michael Cote, Austin. Software industry blogger.

Sam Decker, Austin. Marketing guru and author of two books.

Jenn Deering Davis, Austin. Co-founder of Appozite, a company connecting e-commerce buyers and sellers.

Lori Falcon, Abilene. Blogger who reviews food, critiques products and services and shares blogging tips.

Kyle Flaherty, Austin. Marketing and public relations specialist.

Matt Glazer, Austin. Political and new media consultant who is editor of BurntOrangeReport.com.

Lisa Goddard, Austin. Marketing director at Capital Area Food Bank of Texas who uses the social web to mobilize nonprofit action in Texas.

Michelle Greer, Austin. Web marketing strategist.

David Guenthner, Austin. Social media steward for the Texas Public Policy Foundation and host of Texas PolicyCast, a weekly audio magazine.

Kami Huyse, Houston [by way of San Antonio]. Public relations specialist.

Cali Lewis, Dallas. Social media butterfly known for her podcasts of "shiny, happy tech news" at GeekBrief.TV.

David Neff, Austin. American Cancer Society communications specialist who developed SharingHope.TV, a Web site for visitors to share their experiences fighting cancer using multimedia.

Erica O’Grady, Houston. Social media consultant and award-winning Web designer.

Bryan Person, Austin. Founder of Social Media Breakfast, a multicity networking event.

Connie Reece, Austin. Social media consultant and co-founder of Every Dot Connects, an online social media consortium.

Benn and Lani Rosales, Pflugerville. Creators of AgentGenius.com, an online magazine for real-estate agents.

Dwight Silverman, Houston. His blog at the Houston Chronicle is a favorite stop for tech junkies around the state.

Aaron Strout, Austin. Vice president of marketing at Powered Inc. and former strategist at Mzinga, a social media consulting firm.

Paul Terry Walhus, Austin. Blogger, video blogger, videographer, Web developer and Web host with more than 8,000 followers on Twitter.

Michael Williams, Austin. The chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission is using social media in his run for the U.S. Senate.

Even though SxSwi will be the most well-attended social media focused conference on the planet, and certainly in Texas, I hadn't planned on attending this year due to the fact that I just had a new baby less than a month ago. However, I think I will try to make this event, if only to meet my fellow Texan winners. If you will be at SxSWi, you can attend too on March 15 at Ballet Austin’s downtown building (501 W. 3rd Street). Tickets are on sale now for the event, which will include a cocktail party and an awards show.

I hope to see you there.

Contextual Advertising in Facebook Mimics Social Interaction

2009-02-17T13:25:00.001-08:00

Over the past few months I have noticed that Facebook has become a destination for all of my old friends from high school and even for my parents. A new wave of people have arrived, I would suspect we are in the early majority stage of social networking on Facebook which follows those of us who were early adopters of the service.

Diffusion of Innovation

innovators (2 percent of online population),
early adopters (14 percent),
early majority (34 percent),
late majority (34 percent),
and laggards (16 percent).

Along with the arrival of these new digital denizens has come an interesting issue. Up until now most of the people that we have corresponded with through social networks have been people with whom we share commonalities, be it interests or career, and not necessarily with people we know well offline (by percentage).

Now I find myself corresponding with people that I DO know offline but that, for one reason or another, I lost touch with over the years. with many the only thing we have in common is a shared experience in our past (work, school, etc).

Two things happened today that made me consider how social networking services that have started to welcome the late majority will change.

First, I was served this advertisement in my Facebook adspace. It featured my friend and colleague Jason Falls (Jason, did you know you were an ad in my network). It was quite possibly the first time I have ever paid attention to an ad in Facebook when Jason's familiar photo caught my eye. Apparently he is a fan of WeSeed.

WeSeed is a pretty cool virtual stock market site that allows you to own and trade (not with real money) a portfolio of stocks that are related to your interests. It is a Web 2.0 version of The Motley Fool site, which seems to be more for "grownups these days. WeSeed caters more to 20-somethings.

What is interesting about WeSeed and other that use Facebook's Social Advertising tool is that it mashes up its fan page with your friend list when it delivers the advertising. In other words, this is a PR play (the Fan page) combined with targeted/behavioral advertising.

Voila! Your friends are now selling you on the legitimacy of the advertiser without their explicit knowledge. And if Jason Falls doesn't do it for me, maybe one of my other friends will. A reload of the page brought out Shannon Paul.

As all of our networks expand with the new wave of entrants, this kind of advertising will become more prevalent, even as the US Federal Trade Commission struggles to come up with ways to determine what kinds of behavioral targeting is ethical.

Overlaying this is the quality of the relationships that people are building online. already I have heard complaints about digital only "friends" being a surface exercise, and now I am also hearing the same about reconnections. This comment from Jonathan Block illustrates the point:

I am concerned that the use of advertising mixed into these already fragile "relationships" might further erode the effectiveness of the outreach.

What do you think?

How to Opt Out of Social Ads on Facebook

UPDATE: In the comments, Keli Whidden shared how you can stop Facebook from using your profile picture in sidebar ads. I thought it would be a good idea to share it here (this is as of February 2009).

Log in to your Facebook Account
Go to Settings in the top right navigation bar
Choose "Privacy Settings" from the pull down menu
Click on "manage" in the Privacy setting choice in the list
Select the "News Feed and Wall"
Pick the "Social Ads" tab (at the top)
From the drop down menu choose "no one"

It seems to me to be a lot of steps (7) to opt out of this feature, but glad that at least you CAN opt out.

The Age of Responsibility

2009-02-04T06:25:00.001-08:00

Guest post by Andrea Weckerle

On January 20, 2009, I was one of the millions of viewers of U.S. President Barack Obama's inaugural address. His address was serious yet hopeful, emphasizing all citizens' responsibility to meet the challenges facing the nation and the global community:

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

I was heartened by the inaugural address, not because of party affiliation, but because of President Obama's introduction of the theme of responsibility, which, interpreted broadly, presents an opportunity for each individual to move purposefully towards a positive and productive goal.

As someone who arguably spends as much time in the online space as in the terrestrial, offline environment, I'm particularly interested in responsibility as it pertains to the online behavior of heavily-engaged or vocal individuals. This interest actually started nearly three years ago when I came across a discussion of the Online Disinhibition Effect, defined as:

"It's well known that people say and do things in cyberspace that they wouldn't ordinarily say or do in the face-to-face world. They loosen up, feel more uninhibited, express themselves more openly.Researchers call this the 'disinhibition effect.' It's a double-edged sword."

Since then I've had numerous talks with leaders in the online space, asking whether they felt there had been an increase or decrease in inappropriate or intentionally hurtful behavior. The answers were usually mixed, meaning that while many respondents felt, as do I, that as more people go online and participate both professionally and socially, their ability to interact productively increases, but that we have also witnessed a new depth of the most negative behavior.

For example, there is the unfortunate existence of snark, which, while not unique to the online world, is easy to engage in and propagate in a 24/7 environment. In his newly published book Snark, David Denby describes it in the following way:

"What is snark? You recognize it when you see it -- a tone of teasing, snide, undermining abuse, nasty and knowing, that is spreading like pinkeye through the media and threatening to take over how Americans converse with each other and what they can count on as true. Snark attempts to steal someone's mojo, erase her cool, annihilate her effectiveness."

So while snark and other similar forms of communication tend to inhibit or shut down open communication, what might be considered responsible online behavior? Reasonable people can differ on the exact definition, but perhaps a good starting point for discussion is the idea that if an overarching goal of discourse in civilized society is the free exchange of ideas, then the creation of an environment where everyone's ideas are evaluated based on their strength and value - and everyone feels comfortable expressing them in a rational manner - should be an overarching goal.

What are the factors or elements you consider necessary for the existence of a robust system where the free exchange of ideas is fostered and supported?

Andrea Weckerle is an entrepreneur with a background in law and communications.