I praise Lifefyre more times than I probably should. Especially during #Blogchat when people ask how to get more people commenting on their blog. My first response is almost always this: Install Livefyre.

Livefyre is a commenting plugin that takes over the default WordPress comment system on your blog. Don’t worry, all of your comments will be imported to Livefyre, and the installation is as painless as WordPress itself is. Once you do, it’ll be like soap: “Aren’t you glad you use LiveFyre? Don’t you wish everybody did?”

• Signups URL/Name/Email….URL/Name/Email…URL/Name/Email…URL/Name/Email…Gets tedious after a while, doesn’t it? Well, with Livefyre, you sign up for them once, and you never have to do it again.
• Multiple ways to post without registering – Wanna really piss a reader off?
  

  Livefyre (Photo credit: thecadfiles)

  Make them register for your site in order to comment! For something that odds are they’d only one-off, you can make then jump through a hoop so annoying it needs its own bullet. Thankfully, users can sign up for a Livefyre account and post on any blog that uses it.

• No need to moderate – Nothing makes a blogger cringe like seeing “Your comment is pending moderation” after they post a thoughtful comment on the post you worked so hard to show. With LiveFyre, you don’t need to worry about spam since it goes through its own spam filters, and you can easily remove hostile comments as well.
• Post with Twitter, Facebook and more –  You don’t have to sign up for a LiveFyre account either. You can use your Twitter or Facebook account to post, as well as other networks that continue to be added. This is another benefit to bloggers; they don’t have to be limited to one social network to post. (Awesome if you despise using FB comments, like I do.)
• Twitter support – Livefyre’s Twitter account  and their community manager, Jenna Langer, provide awesome support for Livefyre over Twitter. They’re very personable and know exactly what they’re doing.
• User Interface –  The WordPress comment box blows chunks. Livefyre is prettier. No debate here.

There are tons of blog posts, big and small, thin and fat, far and wide.

But between Pandas and Penguins, between blog posts of all types, there seems to be one annoying question that I constantly have to deal with myself:

HOW MANY WORDS?

How many words must a blog write down before you can call it a blog?

The answer my friend….is blowing in the algorithm.

See, with Panda and Penguin I’d harbor a guess that nobody really knows what makes effective page length. Obviously typing a few sentences and calling it a day isn’t going to help you, but do you really need to write Wikipedia or Steve Pavlina-sized blog articles for Google to notice your content?

 I don’t think so.

PAGES! (Photo credit: Lynne Hand)

Me personally, I’ve always tended to write on the shorter end of the scale. In grad school, I would be grateful to hit the minimum page count while others would be worried about REDUCING THEIR PAPER SIZE. I kicked myself for it constantly until I came into the world of copywriting, where shorter really is better.

Point is, if you can say something in a few simple words and not take an entire paragraph to explain it, you’re awesome in my eyes. Google isn’t looking so much for the count of your words, but the content of your works: Does it explain its point well? Do you have a main idea? Do you provide links to other pages or information on the subject? Is the content quality consistent on your blog? Do you stuff your blog full of pointless fluff?

I honestly think there seems to be some sort of mentality in the blogosphere that says longer is better, even if it means having to sound like a dictionary. That needs to go. NOW.   All content should be as succinct as possible. Say what needs to be said, and only go into details when the reader wouldn’t be able to figure it out themselves (ESPECIALLY if your readers already know some details in your post.)

Bottom line: Keep it short and to the point.

Related articles

• What You Ought to Do If You’ve Been Punished by Google’s Penguin Update(quicksprout.com)

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• The Ideal Blog Post Length: Does Size Matter?(carrierubin.com)

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Comments. We want them. We like them. We probably need them. They make blogging more fun.

But many bloggers actually do things that DETRACT from getting them comments. Here’s some of the things you DON’T want to do if you want people to comment on your blog:

Require too much information - Most people are used to the Name/Social/Email schtick, but some also separate the first and last name, require two email address, blood type, notes from one’s mother, etc. Point is, you need to make your commenting AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE. 

Make people sign up to comment – One of my least favorite things bloggers can do is make people sign up. Ok, look, I know you like the idea of being some elite community where people feel elite by being memebers, but check this: You know sites like the Huffington Post, Gawker, Lifehacker, Mashable, etc? You know how they also require membership? Well…

I don’t post on those because of that reason!

Point being, if I’m not a fan of being a member of those sites, what makes you think I’ll sign up for yours, ESPECIALLY if there’s only one article I’m initially interested in?  Stick to the generic name/email/url setup.

Only allow one social network to comment – I don’t use every social network for every purpose. I tend to keep my Facebook for people I trust as friends. My Twitter is open to just about anyone, and LinkedIn is for people I want to talk with professionally.

Bloggers seem to think that hooking up their blog with a social network’s comments system (Facebook in particular) have the right idea in making it more convenient for people to comment, but the thing is, if you restrict it to only one social network, you’re potentially reducing comments. Some people like to keep their public comments away from their private life, and vice versa.

Your comment is pending moderation – This isn’t as annoying to me as some other things bloggers do, but it does show your readers that you don’t trust them. In all seriousness, you’re gonna have to deal with spam comments one way or another, so just the commenters come into the fray.

There is ONE exception to this: If you deal in a blog that discusses politics and religion, or other controversial topics, you should keep an eye on comments so that nothing hateful, libelous or demeaning goes on your site.

Never respond to any comments – Hi! I found your article on teh internets and I actually was so moved by it that I decided to comment on it. What did you think of it? ….Hello? ….Anyone There? HELOOOOOOO…………Ok, bye bye.

…..Be there for your readers, and they’ll be there for you.

Comments are important. They make you feel good because someone out there is watching.

Tell me some advice you might have in the comments below….Oh! That’s a bonus! Don’t ask people to leave comments! 

I’ve made my comments about it on Twitter, but I think I should further elaborate it here:

I HATE VIDEO BLOGS.

Hate them. Despise them. Wish they were never made. Sadly, it looks like these video posts are going to be the future of blogging itself. There’s plenty of reasons, however, to stick with text blogging for the long future.

Lack of Accessibility - There’s still plenty of people that still connect to the Internet using dial-up modems. Ever try to download a 45-minute long video on a 56K connection? I have. It’s not fun. Especially when you see the massive telephone bill, or when your moron friend decides he ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NEEDS to order a pizza.

Even further down this road is accessibility to those who are disabled. There’s obvious cases such as blindness and deafness, but what about people with ADHD? They’re not going to stick around and listen to your video, ESPECIALLY if they only need one part of it.

Lag and Buffering - As previously mentioned, it’s REALLY BAD on dial-up, but even on broadband, people STILL find themselves seeing that unhappy little circle going round and round more times than they’d like. Honestly, who needs to see your How-To in HD? The content is the same no matter if the screen is crystal-clear, right?

Reference Points - It’s really hard to remember the exact moment you want to find in a video where someone said something you want to point out. Harder still to find it in an extremely lengthy and long video. Don’t believe me? Then I have a little challenge for you….

The above video is from the Live Blogchat done at the 2011 BlogWorldExpo in Los Angeles. It’s just under an hour in length. Your task is to find the point where Mark Horvath starts discussing the use of video. Here’s a hint: His Twitter Handle is HardlyNormal.  Good Luck!

…For the rest of you who have immediately realized either they have no time to find that point or that trying to find that point is futile, I believe I have made MY point.

Physical Appearance - This is another big one. I am REALLY self-conscious about my appearance on video or on tape. There’s plenty of other people that are the same way. I’ve been asked on so many calls and Google Hangouts to reveal myself, and I just can’t. Not just because of my appearance, but because of a few other things I don’t wish to discuss publicly.

Nevertheless, Video does seem to be the trend toward blogging, and I won’t say that I’ll never create a video post featuring myself (Screencasting with my voice is a definite option,) but rest assured that there will be enough content for people to follow along with text as well.

Oh, and in case anyone’s actually wondering, Mark starts talking at the 32 minute mark.

I was reading over Mack Collier’s Five ways to work Twitter Chats for Businesses when I realized that there was more than one reason for someone like me to get involved in Twitter chats. Especially because in the more than 600 Twitter Chats, there’s clearly something for everyone. But in particular, if you’re an individual trying to find work, a sole proprietor, actor or actress, or even a small business owner, there’s as many reasons to work a chat as there are for businesses.

1. NETWORK. This might be the most important thing you do in Twitter chats. In a chat, you can net advice from others on how to approach gigs or job hunting, or get someone with connections to help or something you want, such as a new position somewhere. You can find a guy who knows a girl who knows a guy who knows a robot with a job. Or at the least, someone you can call a new friend on these Internets.

Follow the people you consider the most knowledgeable or the most interesting in the chat. In fact, you can create a Twitter List on your account that lists some of your favorite people to check out on the chat. Everyone benefits.

2. Advise - If you have experience in a certain area, such as method acting or jellyfish cooking, what better way to employ it then to give advice during a Twitter chat. Note that some chats are heavily moderated and frown upon you interrupting the host/guest host, so your best bet is to backchannel the person you’re giving advice to (Meaning you DON’T include the hashtag.) This goes double if you want to link the person to a blog article or website you made about the topic.

3. Guest host - If you’re an expert in a topic (Though I am loathe to say the term,) you can ask the Twitter Chat host if you could guest-host a chat. You can ask questions of the community, or have the chat host ask you questions you answer. Don’t forget to have an open forum where you openly interact with others as well.

Obviously, you’ll need a little bit of clout (Not Klout, although that helps too) in your industry already before you’ll be invited to participate by chat hosts. However, you can always ask first. Most hosts are open to co-hosting with someone in the field.

4. Find and learn about influential figures – When I first started out in Social Media and returned to blogging after grad school, I knew NOTHING about who was who, except for some people like Darren Rowse, Robert Scoble and Chris Brogan. Twitter chats allowed me to pinpoint major players in that business so I can interact with them and learn from them as well, and you can do the same for your industry.

Most of the time, the figures will be co-hosting a chat, but there are also major players who also drop into chats as normal people as well. Just remember to use common sense; don’t harass or annoy them, or beg them to follow you.

Honestly, there’s plenty of reasons to join a Twitter Chat and become a regular. You’ll catch the eye of many figures in the area, and people will start looking to you for advice as well. Alternatively, what better way to learn then from the hive mind?

Related articles

• 4 Accolades of Twitter Chat (seosmarty.com)
• Ready for a Tweet Chat? 5 Tips on How to Join the Conversation (community.constantcontact.com)

I am fascinated by the Android operating system. Unfortunately, since I don’t have an Android phone or Tablet (Not counting the Kindle Fire since it’s not a true Android tablet) I can’t really comment on it. But now I have Bluestacks.

Bluestacks, currently in Beta, allows you to run Android apps on a Windows system. It does this by emulating the Android operating system in a virtual machine. Essentially, you’re given an Android tablet backed by your own computer.

What I like

Well seriously, it’s ANDROID. (Well, the Apps really) ON YOUR PC. How cool is that? Even better, you don’t even need to repurchase apps you already bought. It can sync with your Android phone, as well as with the Android Market. Even better, other app stores such as the Amazon Appstore are also included as well, so if you’re heavy on Amazon’s stuff, you’re covered. All the apps you purchased are usable and work on your computer, which is a wonderful idea! (HINT HINT, APPLE….) 

The main use I see for this is for storing lightweight replacements for programs I frequently use. For instance, I’m thinking of using the WordPress App for Android instead of Live Writer, but considering the run of bad luck I’ve had with WordPress’s app for iOS, that may not be such a good idea.

A place I see real potential for is older computers that could use some life placed in them. I have a 10-year-old Toshiba Laptop just dying for something like this; low powered requirements and plenty of apps could allow me to make it usable again.

What could be improved

Unfortunately, the program is still in beta, so there’s plenty of bugs. I’ve already run into one with a program that requires a long-press on the Home button to access certain features. But the home button on Bluestacks does nothing when long-clicked. There’s also more lag on the program than I’d like to see.

Also, most Android tablets have the ability to use multiple different homescreens, just like the iPad. Bluestacks does not have this capability. I’d love the ability to organize homescreens based on usability, like blogging/communication/games, etc.

There’s also ads on the program itself. While this should be expected since it’s a free app, the bottom ad can sometimes interfere with the operation of an Android app.

I also have concerns about pricing for the apps. There are apps I know are not free such as Angry Birds and ReadItLater Pro that cost money, and I haven’t seen any information regarding pricing. In fact, I clicked on Angry Birds and it started downloading IMMEDIATELY without prompting me to pay. I find this very scary. If there was some sort of deal beforehand with Rovio and other app makers beforehand, I’d really like to know.

The Bottom Line

The app has some serious potential, but its shortcomings really make it suffer. I trust that as the beta goes on, the software’s bugs will be fixed and the program made better, but until then it’s just an E-curiosity. Not to mention the scare I had with downloading known paid apps.

Still, the idea of playing Android games on your PC will make a lot of people happy, and people can download free apps as well as Amazon’s paid app of the day to check them out.

Bluestacks is available now as a free download.

Related articles

• BlueStacks Beta brings Android apps to Windows, now with better graphics (liliputing.com)
• Android apps can run on Windows PCs with Bluestacks emulator (techworld.com.au)

Take me to your leader...for low prices and scams! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Anyone who’s talked with me on Twitter and read my blog knows that one of my greatest pet peeves on the network are Spambots. They are incredibly annoying. Why? Because they pollute Twitter’s stream of content, and makes for a really sore disappointment when that new follower you got just says “Check out this #Awesome #Deal for #Nothing At Spamsite.com” Because as we all know, making every other word a hashtag is something any social media “guru” would recommend (Those not getting the sarcasm: DON’T DO THAT.)

But lately, they’ve been out in full force! In particular, they seem to be promoting Walmart more than anything. Normally I’m able to minimize my “experiences” with spambots by not mentioning popular words like iPhone or Android, or using Good ‘Ol Leet Speak when I have to: 1Ph0n3 is teh 1337, right? But even that isn’t stopping them now! It’s like they’ve latched on to people and blast them with Walmart spiel nonstop! THEY DON’T EVEN MAKE SENSE! Here’s one such tweet:

I do not know. Susan eats fox porridge flying high Potato spewing carrots save money bimbo @WalmartDiscounts

I know that the basic premise of spam is that you fire off potentially millions of emails so 1% can respond to it, but that’s going a bit far. Who’s going to click on a link from THAT? Or the ones that just have random links and a reply? I can’t think of anyone who uses Twitter that would be that stupid…but I guess there are people out there, huh? Otherwise it wouldn’t be so profitable.

Honestly, I don’t really see much of a solution to it either. My recommendation would be to not allow Tweeters to talk with others until they Tweet a few lines of coherent non-plagiarized content. But even that has its issues.

Until a solution is found, do your #dailytwitterservice and report and block spammers. If everyone got rid of one bot a day,  Twitter would be a cleaner place, and it’ll make you feel better too. 

Honestly, I think we can make a solution that will benefit everyone. I don’t normally ask for comments (Well, in an explicit way,) but I think we all can find an idea that would get rid of spambots or at least cripple them. If World Of Warcraft can make Gold Farming hell, we can make life suck for spammers on our Twitter.

So, what should we do?

Social movment rhetoric was one of my favorite things to study back in graduate school. With that in mind, this book was the perfect blend of both my old and new passions: Social movements and social media.

Summary

Uprising is a book by Scott Goodson, founder of the StrawberryFrog marketing and advertising ageny. Uprising concerns creating a movement for your brand. Specifically, it argues that you can move up your brand (and products) by incorporating them into a social movement that could ultimately benefit society.

What I like

Uprising offers several tips on building a movement from the ground up and integrating it with your brand. These tips including finding a cause, and finding an enemy to rally people against (Such as Apple against IBM.) Most of the ideas in the book can be boiled down to a few simple rules: Be Truthful, be compelling, and be transparent. Overall, give them a reason to come together and support it.

My personal favorite concept is that a business needs to start the movement from within the company before it takes it out to the masses. This is so people can see that the corp. embodies the very things that the movement’s philosophy follows. Goodson does say that you should remain believable as you do this; He points out that when KFC attempted to brand themselves as being against breast cancer, several people called them on it because their product was one of the major contributors to health problems. Essentially, they were viewed as hypocrites.

The book also offers several case studies that show how certain companies incorporated social movements, ranging from popular sites such as Meetup and LiveStrong to niche areas such as Improv Everywhere and No Labels. They include basic info such as the idea, and how it spread. Ideal ideas for when you want examples of how to create a movement that your brand can ride on.

Lastly, Goodson also interviews several people over the course of the book that have started movements that benefitted their companies. One in particular was the former chief marketing officer for PepsiCo, Jill Beraud. Beraud went through her issues with developing reFresh, Pepsi’s attempt at working a movement. She expresses the difficulty of arranging something so complex, including ambassadors, mentors for people under the program and helping people create successful ideas.

What could be improved

There were several studies that used nonprofits as their examples. This made me feel a bit confused, as nonprofits can have much different goals from traditional businesses; people aren’t really customers for a non-profit organization. For the next edition of the book, I suggest eliminating the non-profits (Or possibly making another book dedicated to them.)

I feel that there are several areas of the book where Goodson has confused movements with alternative cultures. It’s my understanding that a movement has a purpose, primarily for social change; alternative cultures are simply associations by people who share a common trait.  Would you consider Apple fans a social movement?  Goodson does hit on this a little bit in his comparison between tribes and movements, but I don’t think it was enough for me.

This isn’t to say that the advice that Uprising’s gives isn’t relevant to your company. I’ll readily admit that the above paragraph isn’t so much for business people as it is for scholars with Ph.D’s who may want to debate the issue in incomprehensible journals and elitist conferences, but it’s still something they might want to consider for next time.

The bottom line

The people most likely to use this book are marketers for medium-large businesses. Small businesses may benefit from this better because they can grow a movement from within, but I really think this is more for larger corporations with the funding and population to make this happen. Nevertheless, the advice in the book is sound, and if you can do it, go for it.

Disclaimer: This book was offered as a free review copy by the publisher, McGraw Hill. No further compensation was made or promised; this review has been written without any bias intended.

At 6:00am this morning, Microsoft released its Consumer Preview version of Windows 8. Using the powers of Chrome’s download button, I did a Ronco and set it and forget it.

I installed it in a virtual disk so I wouldn’t have to worry about any content being deleted, and if I really gummed things up, I could just delete it. While it won’t give me the best performance, I don’t have to dig up another computer just to host it.

First Impressions

Right after installation (Which I will admit was relatively simple) I was confronted with that which I feared most: The Metro display. The screen consists of a number of unevenly shaped rectangles on a horizontal scrolling screen.

I tried out the developer preview a few months back and got frustrated with the fact that nothing seemed to work. Thankfully, things are different with the consumer preview; there are a plethora of different apps to play with.

Apps & Games

The first thing I did was play Solitaire with the system. I’m not sure if this will be the final draft of Solitaire for Windows, but I feel Windows 7′s version looks a lot better. Taking into consideration the severe mouse lag, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to play. That’s when I ran into a problem.

I had NO clue how to exit the screen. There was no “X” marker like there is in Windows 7, or any menu where I could click “File -> Close” ala Windows 3.1 style. I managed to right-click on the bottom of the screen where I got options for “hints” and “New Deal” but no exit button. Clicking everywhere else on the screen like a frantic AOL noob didn’t seem to help either.

Eventually I hit Alt-F4, which managed to get me back to the Metro screen. Microsoft, you’re going to need to make that A LOT CLEARER for consumers once this gets fired off.

Clicking on another app, I got an interesting idea. You know that button on your keyboard with the Windows logo? You know, that one you don’t even know exists and doesn’t seem to do anything other than open the Start Menu? I pressed it, and it took me right back to the home screen. I guess that’s the new Home button.

After feeling good with this new discovery, I decided to check out the Windows 8 Store.

All of the apps available are free at the moment, so I just browsed. I downloaded the WordPress.com app thinking that I would be able to post to my blog. Unfortunately it turned out to be just an app showing what was popular on WP.com. Hey Automatic, I think there’s good business in making a Win8 WordPress app. Just saying.

There’s also some vagueness with the “People” app in Win8. I’m not quite sure what its purpose is. Is it just a contact management program, or will I eventually be able to use it to IM others using Facebook/AIM/etc? Will I be able to check my feeds as well?

Granted I’m just skimming the surface right now. Perhaps I’ll do something a bit more in-depth as to the social media implications of Windows 8, but for now this should suffice.

Summary

• Microsoft needs to make OS navigation a bit more obvious. It took a while before I figured out how to exit apps.
• Most of the apps look very nice, but a few also have a slight learning curve.
• The metro desktop will take time to adjust to but will ultimately be very impressive.
• I don’t hate the OS, but I don’t really love it either. Perhaps this will change.

Related articles

• Microsoft Launches Windows 8 Consumer Preview (informationweek.com)
• How to install the Windows 8 Consumer Preview (theverge.com)