The What Noise? - Social Media News and Opinion from the UK

All change

2013-06-12T22:48:00.003+01:00

Apologies for the radio silence for the past few weeks. A few things have changed here, and I’m happy to say that I’m typing this from the comfort of our new place in north London - which really feels like home.

Why? Well..

About seven weeks ago I accepted the role of Social Media Manager at TSL Education - the biggest network of teachers in the world. It’s a really exciting challenge and I’m loving every second of it.

Manchester was a fantastic place to live for the past 2+ years. I met some wonderful people, Ana and I bought our first house, and we discovered a laid-back, friendly lifestyle that’s second-to-none in the UK. People in Manchester are genuinely brilliant, and are not afraid to stop and chat. Although, I’m not going to lie, I’m not missing our next door neighbour Pat telling me about her week-long dose of the norovirus after Christmas (‘It was awful. The toilet was full to the brim’).

I’d like to thank Real and Smooth Radio for two and a half years of great fun, great work and the opportunity to meet so many brilliant people.

And I’d like to thank everybody at TSL for making me feel so welcome.

Normal service on the blog will now be resumed. Whatever that means.

500 Startups, and not a good idea between them

2013-05-15T16:40:00.001+01:00

Ever wanted to see a load of startup kids disappear up their own arse? Ever wondered why people are starting to get tired of 'entrepreneurs' that spend more time making viral videos than focusing on solving problems or launching something tangible?

Behold - the moment the tech scene in the states disappeared up it's own hoop (again).

Pass me the sickbag.

Stickers won't save you now

2013-05-07T10:21:00.002+01:00

One of the funniest things about looking into the tech and social sphere from the outside (well, as a somebody that uses and manages on, rather than builds their services) is seeing the sort of mundane, everyday things they present as somehow revolutionary.

This week? It's Facebook and clip-art. You know, the images you send to your mates in an email conversation to try and sound less like you are machine-gunning words at them? Well, now with Facebook Messenger, you can attach a clip-art sticker to your message - meaning that you can now wink at people using a cat, rather than a smiley face, or lines.

This is a development right up there with Peter Frampton's talking guitar in terms of it's novelty-value. But no doubt, this is a way of introducing another 'revenue stream' into the Facebook experience, by inviting users to 'buy' more smiley packs.

From a finance perspective, it makes perfect sense. It'll keep shareholders happy.

But let's not get carried away with the hyperbole, as Engadget has, talking about the 'crippling visual limitations of emoticons in textual communications'.

Crippling? Crippling?! Come on. We've managed thus as a species thus far to get by not having an image of a winking (I said WINKING) pirate rabbit to send to our mate. Take off your Google Glass and apply a reality filter to what you're saying!

The worst thing about this re-heated idea? It's a re-heated idea stolen from another app - Path. You know, the one that steals contact information from it's users?

I've long suspected that the tech scene over in America (and by extension over here) have been engulfed and slightly deranged in it's own hubris, and believes that everything that it does, or every problem it 'solves', is life-changing.

Checking in at a location is fun - it's not life-changing.

Sharing photos with your friends is nice - it's not life-changing.

Creating cartoon characters for kids that you can buy upgrades for? It's a bit craven (like most advertising aimed at kids) - it's not life-changing. It solves nothing!

Updating your status or sending a tweet is brilliant - but we're not solving world hunger or complex social injustices. We're just easing the daily grind for people fortunate enough to be born into the western world. Making things a bit easier. And that is valuable. Enabling frictionless communication is a wonderful thing, and it's what the internet I love is all about.

But let's not all drink from the same fountain and start thinking that adding stickers to an app is important or news-worthy in any way. They're only stickers!

Hyundai: Not the Korean for 'has a heart'

2013-05-03T14:31:00.002+01:00

If the definition of something going viral is that it rapidly causes nausea and a general feeling of queasiness, the Hyundai are to be congratulated with their latest piece of viral marketing - it really hit the spot.

Featuring (get this, it's a real laugh riot!) a middle aged man unsuccessfully trying to commit suicide in their eco-friendly car, the advert has quite rightly raised hackles across the internet.

It’s a dreadful advert. It reminds me of the dystopian advertisements in a Paul Verhoeven film- the sort of thing that you can imagine a young, naive creative may think is funny when he or she is chortling down the pub with mates, but is much less funny when you realise that your intended audience (your ‘hilarious’ mates, who will happily stick up for you anonymously in comment sections of websites) can’t afford the car in question, and the rest of the people who see it feel that the world has just got a little bit crueler for having the ad projected into it through our own personal Black Mirrors.

And the fact that Hyundai tried to weasel out of any controversy was just as sad - especially seeing as the creative agency that made the video is owned by the Chairman of Hyundai. It’s conceivable that he didn’t see it, but then that’s not really an excuse.

As a disclaimer, I should really point out that I’m an supporter/helper-outer of the charity CALM (a suicide-prevention charity based in the UK), but to be perfectly honest, I’d object to the cruelty of this video even if I wasn’t. It’s mean-spirited, cruel, and leaves you feeling a bit dirty.

Hey, Hyundai - make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Next time, try and make something that appeals to the best elements of humanity, rather than this dreck. And read this.

On your website, it states that ‘At Hyundai, we ask ourselves the important questions every day. And, every day, we seek the best answers. It’s what makes us grow as a car company.’

Clearly, the question of ‘will this upset anybody?’ wasn’t asked once. So you're clearly not asking enough.

Google Glass: a warning from history

2013-04-24T13:58:00.000+01:00

I’m not a fan of Google Glass. There, I’ve said it. If you’re a fan of it, feel free to start throwing rocks at me right about now. Frankly, I don’t care.

Normally, I’m a big fan of change, and innovation. It’s what drives an economy forward, what creates new opportunities, and it feeds itself. To me, the phrase ‘If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ is a cop-out of massive proportions. It’s the easy way out of having to do anything, and it’s often used by people who are scared of change, and want the world to stay exactly the same. If that was the case, I don’t think we’d have ever invented fire, the wheel, or allowed Breaking Bad to mature into one of the greatest TV shows ever produced.

But am I the only one who thinks that Google Glass is just a creepy load of old cack?

For starters, I’m yet to see one person wearing a pair of them that doesn’t look like a prat.

I mean, come on! They may look okay on a model, or on Sergei Brin (aka not-quite Tony Stark), but on you and me? I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to end up looking more like a Bullseye contestant.

Also, Robert Scoble wears them. In public toilets. And whilst he’s not a pervert, I’d certainly get a bit creeped out having somebody standing next to me at the urinals wearing one of those. I’d get pee-shy if I knew there was a risk I could end up on the internet. Seriously, the potential for perving with these bad boys is huge.

Also, think about how people would react around you. Yes, the world is becoming more technologically advanced by the nano-second, but don’t forget that some people are still fundamentally a bit scared of having their pictures taken, let alone being recorded. These aren’t just insecure wallflowers - these are people who value their privacy. Who would like to perhaps have a conversation with you without having to worry about their vocal mannerisms, their nervous tic, or even just wanting to have an off-the-record chat? Yes, I know that products are designed with the vast majority of decent people in mind, but this is still a bit of a kick in the face for good old-fashioned privacy.

With that said, I don’t think wearable technology is a fad. Clearly it isn’t. It’s here to stay, and we’ve been augmenting ourselves since the dawn of time with wearable innovations (shoes, clothes, glasses, watches). But that doesn’t stop me from wondering why a pair of goggles is being seen as something truly groundbreaking. I’d prefer something less intrusive, less showy. A bit more refined. This is a bad use of wearable tech.

In the confines of Silicon Valley/Roundabout, walking around with a pair of interactive goggles on marks you out as a real trendsetter, surfing the bleeding edge with gay abandon. I’m imagining walking around with this technology in Manchester, other areas of London. Not quite so cosy and new-tech now, is it? Now you just look like a simpleton with some lenseless specs.

Google, remember: to Sir Clive Sinclair, the C5 seemed like a great idea at the time. To Alan Sugar, the GX4000 and the eM@iler seemed like great ideas. History is telling you something, Google: Don’t get carried away by the limited success of your other hardware products and think that you are above a failure of this magnitude.

Every tech disaster was a ‘great idea’ at some point.

Viral videos: anecdotes for the illiterate?

2013-04-18T13:46:00.001+01:00

Frank Skinner, who is for my money one of the most naturally funny comedians around, made a very interesting comment on his radio show last Saturday (which I'd recommend catching up with on iTunes).

When talking about viral videos, he referred to them as 'anecdotes for the illiterate' - meaning that simply sharing a video or a picture on a social network is a way that idiots can share something funny without thinking too much about it.

Up to a certain level, I agree with him - you only have to look at the silly posts flying around in the wake of the tragic events in Boston this week, and in countless other events in the past, which I covered in a blog post last week.

But beyond that, I don't. I know that Frank is being flippant, and his disregard for social media is on record, but story-telling in this manner (using pictures) is just a modern way of sharing information and building ties with others.

When we share an interesting video or picture with our friends on social media, we are participating in a practice that goes back millions of years. From caves to campfires, churches to cinemas, Youtube to Vine - we are telling stories to each other, whatever the medium.

It's a clunky metaphor, but when we're sharing videos and pictures online, we're simply daubing our digital caves in paint. The only difference nowadays is that more people have the opportunity to see it.

So share away, and share YOUR way - but do so responsibly. Remember that, to a certain extent, your online identity, your work and your personal, have been inextricably linked like never before in this hyper-connected world we live in.

From Sandy Hook to Derby: Facebook memorial fraud, the dark side of online catharsis

2013-04-05T21:44:00.001+01:00

This week has frankly, been a pretty horrible one in terms of news.

The tragedy of what unfolded in the home of Mick and Mairead Philpott in May 2012 should not be excused or blamed on a culture of any kind - benefits, working class or any other. It was a shocking, terrible crime with an equally tragic outcome.

Sadly, as per usual, the unedifying facts of the case, and the outcome, has brought out the more odious elements on our social networks here in the UK. Like lifting a rock to find all kinds of creepy crawlies underneath, our newsfeeds have become flooded with images and updates we'd rather not see.

Who really gained anything from posting this?

Or this?

Sadly, somebody does gain out of it. What upsets me about this kind of expression is that the people who cooked up these memes don’t do it because they want people to be able to express grief, or indulge in any form of social catharsis (rightly or wrongly). Most of the time, the memorial pages that create this content are set up and moderated by individuals who are trying to ‘farm’ likes and shares on Facebook, in order to grow a page which will then be sold to the highest bidder.

It has happened before, with the precedent being set during the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting in December - lots of hoax memorial pages set up on Facebook to exploit people’s genuine grief.

Here’s an explanation of the phenomena from a recent episode of BBC’s Saturday edition.

So in short? Please be careful of what you share. Chances are the people sharing these images and liking these pages are being exploited by those wanting to make a pretty penny.

So what can we do to try and stop these hoaxes spreading NOW?

Report them - but please don’t feed the pockets of online fraudsters by sharing these images.

No ifs, no buts - it has no place in society. We need to show now more than ever that social media can be a tool for real, positive change - not just in getting the big things right, but in setting right the injustices we see in our collective newsfeeds every day.

Let's take our social media back from the fraudsters!

Fight back against the hoaxers - and remember, together the ants can conquer the elephant.

Search for the purple cow, not the grumpy cat!

2013-03-28T09:57:00.000Z

Do we really need social analytics to know what’s a good post, and what’s not? Are we too hung up on stats?

Are you focussed on what’s best for your community, or having the best stats in the industry?

I think sometimes as Community/Social media managers, we get the two mixed up.

It’s always fun to compare yourself to a competitor, and notice that you are smashing them to bits on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

Here in the UK, in certain industries, it’s not particularly hard. I think we’re going through a bit of a creative fallow period at the moment, with too many brands and businesses posting too much of the same stuff. There are only so many ‘IT’S NEARLY THE WEEKEND!’ posts you can take before my eyes shrivel up and fall out of my head.

We all look for the purple cow, as Seth Godin likes to call it. But if you’re looking for it in the same field as everybody else, you’re not going to find something unique, because everybody else will see it!

Look for what’s unique to you. To your audience. That’s where true success lays.

Coca-Cola: the 's' in social media stands for 'no shit, Sherlock'

2013-03-21T10:48:00.002Z

Coca-Cola: the 's' in social media doesn't stand for 'sales'

No shit.

Coca-Cola are telling us that they can’t account for a single person who has bought a can of Coke as a result of their social media campaigns.

Well, that means that it must be useless, doesn’t it?

We all know that social media, like print advertising, advertisements on busses, television adverts, and anything that isn’t related to, or can’t be plugged into a Google Analytics platform, can’t be measured in cold, hard, cash-generating metrics.

Most marketers know this already. Most PEOPLE know that already. Let’s not kid ourselves.

Or do we? Am I being too dismissive here? Let’s re-think this.

Ah! I’ve got it.

There is a model that can fix this broken world. That can turn social media into a tangible and sexy ROI magnet.

In order for a successful social media conversion to take place, I would simply need to go through the following steps. The Social ROI Stairway to Heaven. It has 26 steps.
Wake up in the morning (small step, but believe me, this is the first step in the marketing funnel)
Pick up my phone, see what’s happening on Facebook/Twitter/Google+
See an update from Coke saying ‘Hey! Check out our flogglesworthy drinkalinks’
‘Oh!’ I say, ‘That’s nice, I could sure do with something flogglesworthy at the moment’
I get up, get dressed for work, and head to the train station
I go into the shop on the corner
I pick up a can of Coke
I go to the counter - the man behind the counter looks at me
‘Mmmm,’ I say ‘this Coke is going to be a truly flogglesworthy start to the day! And to think, I would never have thought to do this if it wasn’t for that FacebookSlashTwitterSlashGooglePlus update I saw when I woke up this morning!’
I pay for the drink
I get a receipt
I leave the shop (I’m now barred - THANKS COKE)
I head to work
I take out my trusty pen and paper to compose a letter
‘Dear Coke,

How are you? I am fine.

How are you, Coke? Are you fine? I hope so.

Please let it be known that thanks to your Facebook update at 6:45am his morning, I purchased a Coke at my local corner shop.

I would like you to register this as a conversion with your social media team. I have included the receipt should you wish to verify this transaction.

Thanks to you, I have now enjoyed a flogglesworthy drinkalink with which I can start my day.

BRAVO! MONTO BENNY (sic)!

Ben’
I take this letter down to the postroom where I work (with my own stamp - I’m not a thief)
I post the letter
I turn into a dragon
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
[REDACTED]
Coke receive the letter
It gets forwarded to the social media department
The head of social media reads the letter
The head of social media heads to his whiteboard, and marks a solitary ‘I’ under the field named ‘Social Media Conversions’
The End

And there you have it. That’s how you actually measure a conversion from a socia media marketing exercise.

I hope that’s cleared things up for you.

You know what the beauty of this method of measurement is? We can apply it to EVERY ELEMENT of our lives. From making toast in a Breville toaster, to seeing a PPI advert on the side of a bus.

All we need to do is follow my simple 26-step conversion registration system, and all will be well. We can all sit back and be the little Winston Smiths that Coke secretly want us to be.

Sorry it hasn’t worked out that way.

Google Reader - RIP. Now go try something new!

2013-03-17T14:27:00.000Z

There’s been a lot of column inches online and offline dedicated to the demise of Google Reader. Lots of sadness.

Lots of outrage, too. Mainly from bloggers, who seem to think that this, the final putrid gasp from the fetid corpse that is RSS, signals the end of their blog, and will suddenly cut off their readership, who won’t be able to find their content anymore.

I think it’s a good thing.

Speaking from my perspective, the audience that I receive via RSS has always been incredibly small. I don’t even think it’s in double figures. And that’s not something I’m particularly ashamed of.

I like having regular readers to my blog. Most of my readers come from one of a number of non-rss sources: Hacker News, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Stumbleupon and G+. Maybe Reddit if I’m lucky.

I would much rather have somebody come through to my blog post whilst they are actively out seeking relevant content, rather than passively reading my blog posts via their RSS reader.

I get much more value out of cultivating a social media presence than encouraging people to sign up via my RSS feed.

You may say that’s a bit of a no-brainer given my profession, but you’d be wrong. I do rely on aggregation services and RSS readers like Feedly and Prismatic to get my daily news fix throughout the day. But where am I increasingly finding the really interesting content?

Twitter
Reddit
Hacker News
Facebook
G+
LinkedIn

When somebody shares a piece of content, they are actively participating in the process. They are interested enough in the content to not only read it, but also share it. This makes me much happier than when somebody skim-reads my entry in Reader.

When I am logged into an RSS reader, I am not always in ‘share mode’ - I’m in ‘passive consumption’ mode, and I want to binge on as many blogs as humanly possible, in lots of different subjects.

I get more of a kick out of people participating in the sharing of my content than simply consuming it and then moving on.

What about you? What do you think? What does the death of Google Reader mean for your blog and readership?

Twitter: Liberal, Conservative or Neither?

2013-03-08T13:31:00.002Z

Pew research this week published the results of a really interesting survey that they’ve been taking over the past two years. Essentially, I think the question that they were trying to answer was whether Twitter is a fundamentally liberal, or conservative platform when compared with broader public opinion.

I think it’s neither. I think Twitter is only a platform, and the most vocal people on there are neither liberal or conservative. In fact, I think that these political groupings are becoming increasingly blurred.

I would say that, barring politicians or political party members, the overall mood of Twitter is one of anti-authoritarianism. Anti-Orwellian. Anti-surveillance state.

I see the value in this.

Pew Research point to the Obama vs Romney election last year as a defining moment - the best way - to measure whether the platform is predominantly one nor the other.

People don’t work like that. I’m sure that many people that voted for Obama as ‘the lesser of two evils’, who supported him in his debates, who had bumper stickers, who follow and retweet his messages, are equally as disgusted with the US administration’s use of Drone strikes in Pakistan. People who agree with Ron Paul on certain topics. I’m sure that over here in Britain, people agree with Ed Miliband on some things, David Cameron on others, and neither most of the time. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

To disagree is not, and shouldn’t be, a fundamental signifier of your political allegiance. I think that the beauty of Twitter is that it shows us as we really are: neither conservative nor progressive, liberal, illiberal, libertarian or socialist.

I believe that are all fundamentally contrarian. That’s what makes us interesting. You can’t apply the God-complex to humanity on this scale - even on a social network.

The Onion and The Oscars: Let's move on!

2013-02-28T14:18:00.001Z

BANG! Imagine seeing that pop up in your news feed.

Now, this is a bit of a tough one to tackle, as I have to say that in my opinion, calling a nine-year-old girl a ‘c_nt’ just isn’t very funny. But since when has not being funny been classed as a crime? In the UK we’ve handed gold-plated careers to the likes of Bobby Davro, Keith Chegwin and Jason Manford off of the back of our love of traditional unfunny-ness.

Once again, to reiterate: The tweet, in my opinion, wasn't funny in the slighest.

But I think what we’re seeing here is an attempt by The Onion to prick the balloon of pomosity around The Oscars ceremony - alot like Seth McFarlane did whilst presenting it. They just picked the wrong target. An easy target. It was a cheap shot. And they were right to apologise to Quevenzhane Wallis.

But it wasn’t racist. And it wasn’t something that the whole of America, and the world at large, should get too worked up about.

I love Twitter. And I love social media. I love communicating. It’s my job. The ability that social media has to connect people around the world instantly and without borders is something to be applauded.

From 8am today, Syrian refugee Hasan will be taking over @oxfamgb's twitter page. Follow his tweets, for a day in his shoes #SyriaRefugees
— Oxfam International (@Oxfam) February 1, 2013

When charities like Oxfam hand over their Twitter account to a Syrian refugee for the day so you can find out what it’s like to live their lives from the comfort of your home or office - that’s powerful. You don’t get many people tweeting about it though, do you? What a great opportunity - a great real-time event.

Getting annoyed about a tasteless Oscars tweet isn’t a good use of your time on earth. It’s silly.

I think that the biggest mistake The Onion made in all this was to not pick their battles more carefully. In it’s quest to gain engagement, retweets and followers, it dived headfirst into a pit of angry vipers, just waiting for something minor (no pun intended) to get annoyed about. It was a shit joke that went down badly - but we’ve all heard much worse. So step away from the keyboard!

Here’s a thought: Maybe in the UK and the rest of the western world, we should concentrate on the real shit that’s going on - good and bad. Let’s get our priorities in proportion, and try and be a bit less knee-jerk. This Tweet will be forgotten next week, and we’ll move on to another outrage, but there are always more important things to be engaging with: our friends, family, loved ones, and the world around us.

The Oscars by comparison really isn’t that important. It’s chickenfeed for the mind, and trying to elevate this event within an event merely crystallises this. Move on.

The world as it appears on Twitter? That’s only 140 characters of it. That’s so far from the full skinny it’s untrue.

Why most social media blogs are shit

2013-02-18T20:05:00.000Z

I’m bored. I mean seriously, seriously bored.

I’ve been checking out the latest blogs in and around my industry, and to be perfectly honest, I’m a little bit disappointed in what I’m seeing in out there. I thought I had this whole blogging thing licked! But it turns out I’m wrong.

Do you want to know what the secret of writing a good social media blog is?

Fresh content?

Great advice?

Crisp, engaging copy that jumps off the page?

Strong imagery or branding?

Nope - none of the above really matter. What matters is how many times you can mention how important social media is to keep on writing the same article over and over again.

You know - the one about how social media is a transformational platform, how your company really should be on there, how it’s the wave of the future.

Let me repeat that: to be successful, keep on writing the same, tired, shitty articles over and over again.

You also need to back this up with a few speculative tit-bits about how social media drives sales, gives tangible ROI and had single-handedly saved the Bolivian Unicorn from extinction.

Do we really need more articles of this kind? Do we really need another article with a headline like this? Or this? Come on. It’s getting boring now. You’re supposed to be an expert. Crafting a blog post out of one bullet-point on a Powerpoint presentation is weak, and if you are going to do a top five/ten/twenty social media list, or a really vague ‘duh’ guide to a platform, leave it to the pros like Mashable.

Aim for the niche. Aim for what you’re good at. Why are you a good social media marketer? Why are you a good community manager? What’s your niche? What makes you special?

Nobody wants to read the same old shit anymore - it’s time to step it up. Write something you’d want to read for a change. Write for yourself, and people like you first. Let the high-traffic blogs handle the simple questions. Your role as somebody that knows about social is to share real, tangible knowledge. Your thoughts. Your opinion. Give me something contentious.

Challenge me! Because we’re not being challenged enough as an industry at the moment. We just let people drink from the fountain of social media and froth over how many likes or follows their business gets. And then we wonder why when we go into a meeting with a client that all they want is a useless app to grow their fan numbers - or how a social plugin can ‘force’ somebody to like or follow them.

Let’s make more of an effort - how’s about it? You don’t even have to take up arms. All you need to do is write about what interests you about social media, and do it when you feel like it.

The eyes of the world aren’t on you - trust me, there are meteors to duck and books to read. The moment you feel that pressure is the moment you stop writing well. I know that all too well. This blog is probably littered with more than a few shit articles. But I don’t want to write any more of them.

And neither should you. So what do you say? Let’s do it - let’s stop writing shit social media blogs!

Pointless ego-shine: The LinkedIn 'Top 5%' email

2013-02-12T11:13:00.001Z

I, like many other people this past week, received an email from LinkedIn telling me that I was one of the ‘top 5%’ most-viewed users on LinkedIn.

Wow! That’s brilliant, isn’t it? Since being identified as one of this top five percent of viewed profiles, I’ve been inundated - literally inundated - with job offers and opportunities from some of the biggest brands, startups and charities in the world. I’ve been offered a place on the board of Facebook, given the opportunity to be the majority shareholder in Google, and been offered the role of mentor on the next series of the X-Factor over here in the UK. I've even got my own unicorn now, delivered personally by Adam Ant and Morrissey.

I feel like I’m a member of an exclusive club - one which may not entitle me to free Nandos, or a cookie with my Subway, but one where at the very least, I can claim to be one of the top TEN MILLION people on LinkedIn.

Tremble before me, minions, as I wield my trusty resume sabre of doom, and bring it down upon you with great vengeance. Tremble at my fragile credibility! RAAAAAARRRRRR!

Kidding...
Seriously - this is one of the poorest emails I’ve ever received from a company. Talk about flimsy marketing.

Here’s an idea for people: rather than tweeting out a fairly insignificant stat about being one of the top viewed profiles on LinkedIn, you start using it to network, market yourself and put yourself in the best position possible to find a new challenge on there?

Being one of ten million doesn’t make you stand out from the crowd. I don’t count any number that large as rarified company.

Concentrate on YOU - what do you want to get out of LinkedIn? An ego-shining? Then go for it, share that worthless five-percent stat.

Here’s what I want to get out of LinkedIn:

I apply for a role, including a link to my LinkedIn profile in the covering letter.
Hiring manager looks at my details, wants to check if I have any recommendations (NOT box-ticking endorsements - actual statements people have taken the time to write).
Hiring manager looks at my profile, realises that I am the real deal, and a good match for the role (I hope), proceeds to contact me for an interview.
I get the job by impressing with my mad skills (as Jesse Pinkman would say).

That’s it. That’s what I focus on with LinkedIn. Everything I do on there is to build networking connections, talk to like-minded professionals, to find out more about the industry I work in, and to help find new work.

I don’t care about being in a percentile. I care about having a useful profile, highlighting my skills, and finding new opportunities to work and connect. If one person looks at my profile, and offers me a role in part because of it, then that’s worth more than being part of a 10 million-strong backslapping brigade.

LinkedIn: please don’t send an email like this again. It’s annoying, it’s spam, and it’s just pure, brazen clickbait.

I thought you were above this. Clearly not.

The key to social success: Balance, Variety and nine steps to improve your social posts

2013-02-05T16:24:00.002Z

How are you getting on with that social media strategy? Is it going OK? Are you reaching enough people? Are you meeting your goals?

Yes? No? Do you have the answer yet?

You probably should, you know. We are way, way past the stage in social media when you can just have a fiddle around the edges and hope that it’s OK.

It’s like email - it’s not going away, you can love it or you can hate it, but really, you’ve just got to knuckle down and use it now, because that’s where a lot of your potential clients are there.

Chop. Change. Optimise.

Find out what works, and find out why it works.

Think about what you are feeding your audience. Think about the type of audience you want. It can’t be everybody. If you try to please everybody, not only will you fail - you’ll also become irrelevant.

Optimise your social presence! Cultivate a following that is interested not just in what you are offering, but what you are as a business. That’s hard. That’s why it needs to be done. All of the biggest rewards come after you solve a really hard, really big problem. Defer your gratification. Choose the road less travelled.

It’s hard to be useful in social media - and that’s why so many companies get it wrong.

Before you post anything socially - can you answer the following questions?

Is it timely? Is this appearing at a time you know your audience will be around?
Is it relevant? Is it relevant to their lives, or the world around us?
Is it fun/interesting? Does it make you smile? Would you send it to a mate to cheer them up? Is this something you think your fans should know about, or NEED to know about it.
Will you reply to comments on it? Are you willing to take part in a conversation around it? If not, then it’s probably best not to put it up.
Does it reflect your business or brand? Does it reflect your brand’s values?
Would you engage with this? Would you (honestly) respond to this if you saw another friend posting this in your news feed?
Would your nan be offended by this? Not your real nan – your internal nan. What I mean by this is – put yourself in another person’s shoes. Would this content offend that person? If so, then probably best not to post it.
Would you click on it? Does the information provided really make you want to click on the link? If not, how can you improve what you’re doing?
Does it ask too much of me? Am I asking somebody to like, +1, share, retweet and enter something all at the same time? If so, you’re probably asking too much!

If you can’t answer yes to these nine questions, then don’t post anything. It’s really that simple.

Remember - good social posting isn’t about the amount that you post - it’s about getting the balance and variety of the posts right.

Too many buttons: The Huffington Post manipulating the social graph

2013-01-28T15:48:00.001Z

Thought I’d share this with you to give you a bit of hope when it comes to your social media strategy - even the big guys get it wrong sometimes.

This sidebar from The Huffington post really got my goat, and seemed ‘like’ a bit of a cheap way to gain social signals and referrals back to their site.

Why would you like or recommend an article based on the headline, or the picture next to it? Why would you just blindly click on it?

Worst still, why put the option there in the first place? It makes the page look like a child has gone crazy with some free promotional stickers.

I think we are getting to a point where we are seeing too many professional websites such as the HuffPo try to gain and manipulate social signals by sticking a button in every spare bit of space. They should know better.

I hope that Facebook are taking into account the blatant click-baiting that HuffPo is indulging in, and deprecating their weight and influence in their treasured news feed in response to it.

My advice to them?

Think of the reader: Think of the person reading the content. Don’t insult their intelligence by sticking a share button by a headline, before they have the opportunity to even skim-read an article.

Remove some of the buttons, speed up your site: loading HuffPo in it’s current form on Chrome through my Mac is like trying to push toffee through a keyhole. If you remove some of the whistles and bells, you make sharing more relevant, and a by-product of this is that your site will load a bit quicker, which will lower your bounce rate.

Don’t break up the content: keep it clean and ensure that your content is the lynchpin of your site. The sharing buttons should always be secondary.

What do you think?

How not to promote a sponsor on Facebook

2013-01-22T12:55:00.001Z

Do I really need to say more about the picture above?

I think that this is pretty cheap on so many levels.

We all know that radio stations have a number of responsibilities towards their commercial sponsors, and rely on them to keep the station financially viable and on the air.

It's not arms trading; it's how the stations stay on air and remain profitable, keeping people in work. I think we can all accept advertising in one shape or another. We're grown ups.

I handle commercial posting for the radio stations that I work for, and the number one reason I turn down requests for social postings from a commercial client is if there is ZERO benefit to the listener on a social platform.

What benefit does this have to the user? What response did they expect to illicit? 'Oh, look, Belvita have breakfast biscuits that come in five different flavours! Quick, honey, get my coat! I might be able to get down to the store in time to get some.'

Show me the person who says that and I'll get a marker pen and draw the word IDIOT on their heads in capital letters.

This doesn't have any benefit to the end user. It looks like it's been 'pushed' (a term that I hate, as social media marketing is not akin to drug dealing or pimping) on the user, it jars with the rest of the content of what is an otherwise fine radio show.

I don't 'Like' a page on Facebook to be talked at about a product that has nothing to do with the show that I tune into.

And I'm sure that most people don't for that matter.

Facebook Graph Search: Not a giant-killer, nor should it be

2013-01-17T13:45:00.000Z

Earlier this week, Facebook launched a service that was (apparently) bound to raise a few eyebrows. It’s latest product, being touted as a future ‘pillar’ of the community by good old Zuck, is a search engine that plugs into and uses the full power of your social graph. It’s called Graph Search.

You can search for content, and find content that is relevant to you and your circle of friends. If you like rock-climbing and your partner doesn’t, then why not type ‘Friends who like rock climbing’ into the Facebook, and then go climb some rocks with them.

Lots of people are saying how this either isn’t the big giant-killing app that they were all looking for from the announcement, or that Google need to be worried about the development of this.

I disagree with both points.

Firstly, what would you rather have had Facebook annnouce? A phone that would probably be universally derided? A set of new photo filters? A missile programme?

I think that Graph Search is a neat little idea. It helps you connect to people that like the same things as you. You can find your mates in Manchester that love Morrissey (hint: ME), people that like horror fiction in the UK (hint: ME).

The biggest downside for me is that I don’t think that a like or a recommendation is as strong as a signal as Facebook seems to think it is. We are told over and over again by Facebook that a like is not tantamount to an opt-in on

Secondly, I don’t think Google will be as worried about Graph Search as many pundits think.

Why? Because Google is a repository for (nearly, nearly) ALL information on the internet. A student isn’t going to look for their research paper on Facebook. I’m not going to search for an book a holiday on the basis of a Facebook like.

Facebook may own the social graph on the internet, but Google are slowly stitching together a social layer over their search property - which I think is far more valuable than a simple social search graph.

Graph Search is a neat idea. I really like it, and I look forward to using it when it finally becomes available to me.

But let’s not kid ourselves: This is not going to unseat Google, or majorly change the way we use the platform. It’s just an incredibly useful upgrade of a ‘pillar’ of Facebook’s service that didn’t work too well.

You want to see the real disruptive story coming from Facebook this week? How about Messenger allowing you to make voice calls. Now that’s something for phone networks to get concerned about - Facebook turning your phone into a zombie Facebook phone via it’s app.

Looks like they didn’t need to launch a phone after all.

Twitter and Television - Report

2013-01-11T16:00:00.000Z

I thought you'd all like this - it's Twitter's overview of second-screen habits, and how people engage with television events. Developed in association with it's advertising partners, it throws up quite a few interesting tid-bits, which I thought I'd share with you here.

- It's interesting to see that the more engagement a show requires (Homeland, Downton Abbey, a good movie), the less people tweet during it.

- Current affairs programmes promote debate that runs for quite some time after the event (Panorama's Jimmy Savile special).

- Shows that may require lower levels of attention (The Only Way is Chelsea) generate more tweets during the show. 1 in 4 viewers of the show actively tweet. Most users are using the mobile platform.

- Generally, 15 - 24 year olds are more likely to be tweeting from a desktop computer than 25+ year olds, who are mostly mobile. This is due to the cost of second screen tech, such as tablets and smartphones, and the proportion of that segment of the population using Pay-As-You go internet access for their mobiles. That, combined with low-to-no income, means that the most cheap and convenient way of accessing the internet is either a laptop or desktop computer.

- The X Factor generated 14 million tweets in 2012 - driven by the generation of dynamic, integrated hashtags during the broadcast of the show.

Just a few quick insights from what looks like a vert interesting report.

Download the full report here (registration required).

Fake Facebook Promotion - Skillens.com

2013-01-08T17:15:00.000Z

This promotion made me laugh for a couple of reasons. Talk about getting caught in the act!

Firstly, that's a great winners picture. I get that social media is about spontaneity and being 'in the moment', but that doesn't mean you can't retake the picture! Smile for crying our loud.

Secondly - the competition is a 'share and repost' competition. Not only is it against Facebook's promotional guidelines - it's the sort of competition that people with no ideas seem to just sling up on Facebook thinking that it will work. It doesn't. The people that you attract with these competitions aren't necessarily the sort of people who want to buy a diamond ring, or want to have diamond rings in their newsfeed on Facebook. They just want to win a big-ticket prize with little to no effort.

Companies and businesses may complain that the Facebook guidelines are too strict, and that there are a lack of free ways of marketing your business on there, but it's just not true. Yes, there is a premium on reach, but that's in place mostly to protect your customers from having the shit spammed out of them when they log on to see what their friends are up to.

In short: The guidelines aren't there to prevent or penalise legitimate marketing - they're there to prevent irrelevant, shitty marketing. If I see one more person doing a 'share and repost' competition on Facebook, I'm going full Dexter on them.

Finally - the competition was fake!

WHOOPS! Busted!

They got caught in the act, not only breaking the guidelines, but eliminating any credibility they had with the fans they hoped to attract with the promotion. Bogus on so many levels, if I may say so myself (in my finest Bill & Ted accent).

Community Managers: Tattoo the image of this competition onto the backs of your eyelids, lest you take leave of your senses in the same way.

Businesses: You have been warned. No more share and repost competitions. There are plenty of other, smarter ways to market your business without having to pay for promoted posts etc. You can do it entirely organically if you are smart. Avoid these tactics like the plague to retain any credibility that you have.

(Hat tip to Tristan Welch for the heads up)

A Facebook Redesign? Well, it looks nice, but does it work?

2013-01-04T16:44:00.001Z

I don’t think that anybody would argue that when it comes to appearances, Facebook is looking pretty tired.

However, what it lacks in style, it more than makes up for in simplicity. Yes, it does run a bit slow at times, but at it’s very core lies a simplicity which ensures that people of all ages get a consistent experience. One that we are so accustomed to that whenever Facebook tries to make a change to it (Timeline), we throw our arms up in fury.

Facebook is built on simplicity.

However - it could do with a polish, so bravo to Fred Nerby for having a very detailed stab at making a more responsive, dynamic version of the site...

Facebook Prototype - Conceptional Approach from Fred Nerby on Vimeo.

What do I think?

Nice, but sadly unworkable.

It would require the site to be rebuilt from the ground up in it's current form.

I do love the metro look, it's really refreshing on the eyes, but some parts of it are a little bit too fiddly for me. This news feed example below is far too busy in my opinion.

I'm not trying to piss on Fred's bonfire, or belittle his work - but it looks a lot like the new Myspace, or Pinterest. In fact, it’s incredibly similar to the NewMyspace. I’ve posted a video below so you can make your own comparisons.

The new Myspace from Myspace on Vimeo.

What do you think?

Also, from a usability perspective, we need to take it down to the bare bones. Facebook is successful because it is accessible to people from most browsers, phones and tablets. I'd take a stab in the dark, but I'd have to say a design of this kind is far too complex for a casual user (which is most of us).

I know that we are looking to new social platforms for interesting designs and iterations on familiar gestures and sensations (well, the geeks amongst us are), but I think that this one, whilst showing what a fantastic designer Fred is, falls a little short of the scale, and proves that every good designer needs a bit of digital savvy.

Still, like a concept car, I hope that this idea helps stimulate some ideas and some debate at Facebook Towers...

10 Things I'd like to achieve in 2013

2013-01-01T22:46:00.000Z

As 2012 drew to a close, for many people it had been a year smattered with achievements, fantastic feats, and inspirational stories. The Olympics came to Britain, and gave a dream to thousands of young athletes. A jubilee happened.

But for many, 2012 has been a difficult year. Lax gun control laws in the US leading to tragedy after tragedy, and wars being fought without rhyme or reason in far-flung places in the world, often in our name, without our consent, and a struggling global economy.

Professionally, 2012 was a bit of an up and down year for me. And the biggest mistake that I made was realising about half way through the year that one of the reasons I’d got myself into the pickle that I was in was because I didn’t have a plan.

We all need a plan. Preparation is everything.

'Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.' Abraham Lincoln

How can you hope to find your way in life, in your career, if you do not have a plan?

One of the things one of my business mentors made me realise during the planning and launch of seven (SE-VEN) websites over the course of a couple of months was the importance of planning. The importance of knowing where you are going, even when you are knee-deep in bugs and amendments.

This year, I am not going to make the same mistake again. With careful planning and preparation I am going to achieve as many of my goals as possible.

To that end, in the next year, I plan to achieve the following things:

A new challenge: This year, I feel like I really need a new challenge. I’ve really enjoyed my time at Real and Smooth Radio, but I’m getting restless. So I need a change, and I need to keep working towards that change.

In my time there, I’ve built social media from the ground up, with the help of a fantastic group of people. I’ve travelled the country, made friends, might have made a couple of enemies, but overall I feel that my time at Real and Smooth has been incredibly exciting.

But I have itchy feet, and it’s time to try something new. What's it going to be? Watch this space!
Ensure the happiness of people around me: Happiness for yourself is great, but it’s also important to ensure that your loved ones are happy. I’m going to make time for my loved ones this year more than ever. More time with Ana, more time with my friends, more time with my family.
Read less, learn more, do more: The amount of time that I spend reading about social media, greatly outweighs the amount I learn or do.

I aim to redress that balance in 2013 for good. Prismatic has helped with that massively already. It’s a great app for sifiting through the dreck in my news feed, and giving me the most relevant news. My Google Reader is too bloated and ugly for purpose now!
Look after my health: There’s no point being the most successful social media man in the cemetery. I know I need to lose weight - I’m a bit of a fatty at the moment. So this is the year that I’m actually going to change my eating habits and stop eating like such a pig.
Instinct + thought = Decision: Listen to your gut, and then listen to your head. If they are both in agreement, then ACT.
Review and improve: Constantly review and improve upon what I am doing.
Worry less: Because worrying gets in the way of effective DOING.
Win something: I haven’t won anything in a while. I’d like to change that. I don’t mind what it is - employee of the month, a football match, a prize in a newspaper, the Social Media Examiner blog of the year - as long as it’s a victory, then I’ll take it.
Spend my time more productively: I have a few hobbies, but I don’t take enough time to actually do them. Because I’m always reading about social media, whilst not learning anything!
Make time for fun: Have more fun.

Will I achieve this? Yes. I hope to, at any rate. I hope that you will stick with me whilst I go on this adventure. You’ll get plenty of social media news and updates from me along the way - useful advice that you’ll want to keep handy.
Happy New Year - I hope that you all have a fantastic 2013.

+Ben Stroud

+The What Noise?

An eye for an eye, etc.

2012-12-10T22:16:00.002Z

Last week, a tragic event occurred in England. A nurse, after receiving a prank call from somebody purporting to be the Queen of England, transferred a call through the hospital switchboard to a senior colleague.

The senior colleague, who also believed she was speaking to royalty, then divulged information on a patient to them.

The pranksters in question were from a radio station in Australia.

The call in question quickly went viral. In fact, as soon as it was broadcast and put on the site, it was global news. Questions were asked. Brows were furrowed. How could this kind of security lapse have been allowed to happen?

Punishments were demanded. Sackings were demanded. Copy and paste status updates abounded on Facebook. ‘How could this be allowed to happen? REPOST IF U AGREE’. I no hun. Tragic.

And then something truly tragic happened.

One of the nurses, the one who had originally put the call through, took her own life.

The news quickly went viral. It was global news. Questions were asked. Hands were wringed. How could this have been allowed to happen?

Punishments were demanded. Sackings were demanded. Copy and paste status updates abounded on Facebook. ‘How could this be allowed to happen? REPOST IF U AGREE’. I no hun. Tragic.

But when we really look at the the cold hard facts, who is really to blame, and is there/should there be any blame apportioned?

I look to Twitter and Facebook, the pulse and echo chamber of society today, and sometimes what I see saddens me.

People who have no interest in biblical teachings talking of blood on hands, an eye for an eye, misquoting passages, demanding punitive action to be taken against those responsible.

I am not a religious man, but I know piety when I see it.

Can nobody see that this is a tragedy that, to a certain extent, we all played a part in?

We crave gossip and tittle-tattle. We love ‘banter’. When somebody is hurt by our deeds, ‘we were only having a laugh’.

The media want your eyes on their page. They want to sell your page views, your unique impressions to advertisers. So they (we) give in to these needs. We bully, we belittle and we speculate.

But what happens when an innocent person has their life smashed to pieces in the process?

Funnily enough, we choose to become observers again. We blend into the crowd - the mob. And we chase a new victim.

Let me get one thing clear - I abhor the prank call format in radio. I think it’s cheap, deeply unfunny, and often very boring. It’s a format responsible for the careers of number of presenters (who I won’t name) that I have to say are about as funny as laying in a bath full of nails whilst listening to a Throbbing Gristle box set.

But these presenters are not the cause of this tragedy. This is a collective responsibility that we all share.

The media, the tweeters, the copy-and-pasters and the aural voyeurs. We are all to blame in varying degrees. So why don’t we take a look at ourselves before blaming others.

Lets ask ourselves what we as individuals, and as a society bound together by flesh, blood, trinkets and technology, can do to stop another individual taking their lives as a result of mainstream and citizen-led ridicule.

And if you see fit, why not donate a bit of money to suicide prevention charities that dedicate their resources to trying to prevent vulnerable people from taking their own lives?

But most importantly: the next time you have a though pop into your head that is cruel, discriminatory or could cause upset to others - please think twice before you post it. PLEASE.

Instagram vs. Twitter: Who really wins when we all lose?

2012-12-06T14:13:00.002Z

You might have seen the articles today about Instagram, and their decision to withdraw support for Twitter Cards for their platform. It’s caused a shit-storm on the tech scene, with Mike Arrington, The Verge and many other sources weighing in with their opinion on the decision.

Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom has came out with an apologetic yet defensive response at the LeWeb conference stating that the decision was made to protect their data, and ensure eyes were heading to their platform, and not viewable on other platforms. Something they’d never do to Tumblr. Or Facebook.

Are they really trying to tell us that this decision wasn’t a bit of tit-for-tat retalitation over Twitter blocking Instagram from using their Friend Finder API? Yes, they really are. They say they have a ‘really good relationship with Twitter’, despite recent events.

But how can that really be true? Are the team at Instagram really asking us to believe that when making this decision, the Friend Finder API issue wasn’t considered as a black mark against Twitter’s name?

Of course it was. STOP BULLSHITTING US, KEVIN.

The biggest losers in all of this is, of course, you and I.

We all want connectivity. In terms of what a Utopian future of what online connectivity is, we all dream of having seamless, open collaboration between platforms. What happens on Instagram goes to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, etc. It’s simple for us, and the advantage of being able to create once and publish everywhere is a standard that many companies are adopting, whether it’s in-app, on-site, or even via their CMS.

What Twitter, Facebook and now Instagram are doing is essentially trying to work in the most counter-productive/intuitive way possible for users, and justifying it by saying that they own our details and content on their platforms (actually, to be fair, Facebook allow you to download and remove most of your data - they are a lot more transparent than Twitter and Instagram at the moment - shocked much?).

The problem with that argument is: if you piss of your users, it doesn’t matter if you have their personal details. Did you see what happened to Myspace? That’s right: if you don’t play nicely with others, you are going to lose relevancy with your users pretty quickly. They won’t give a shit if you have their details - they won’t care what you have to say. And in the social web we inhabit, that’s lethal.

So Instagram, Twitter, any social platform that operates in this manner: learn to play nicely. Learn to be a bit more open than you currently are. Customers will forgive you if you pivot with your product - just don’t be stupid and pivot on them.

What do you say?

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Getting the digital begging bowl out

2012-12-05T12:44:00.003Z

It's that time of year again when I get out my digital begging bowl and ask you all to help a blogger out...

Could you take a couple of minutes out of your day to nominate this site, www.thewhatnoise.com for the annual Top Ten Social Media Blogs contest?

I know it’s a bit of an ask, and potentially a bit of a pain in the arse, but here’s a few reasons why I think that you could vote for me, if you wanted to.

If you could read these reasons whilst listening to this amazing track from Edwin Starr, I’d really appreciate it:

I share relevant information: as a Community Manager for brands such as Ministry of Sound, Real Radio and Smooth Radio, rather than simply writing about social media and the challenges it faces from the outside looking in, I’m actually there, day-in, day-out, talking to consumers on social channels. Many of the case studies on my blog are from projects I’ve undertaken - no white papers about projects that others have worked on. Tangible, useable information.
I’m from ‘outside the bubble’: I don’t live in San Francisco, New York, London or Cupertino. I live in Manchester, and I’m originally from Southampton. You can’t get much more out of the bubble than that. It gives me hindsight, and gives me the liberty and freedom to say whatever I like, without worrying about treading on a VC’s toes, or upsetting a precious entrepeneur, should I ever wish to write about a startup. So that’s what I do.
I don’t publish press releases or promotional pieces and present them as meaningful content.
I love the fresh, fresh feeling of Batiste Instant Hair Refresh in my hair after a long day.
I don’t just talk about how ‘great’ the Old Spice viral campaign was - I ACTUALLY USE OLD SPICE. To clean under my arms, in intimate areas, and, in extreme circumstances, to clean my teeth. In your face, Ray Mears.
I support a deeply unfashionable football team - Southampton FC. So I’d really appreciate winning something for a change.
I own THESE, thanks to my wonderful girlfriend:
I once tried to bring bell bottoms back into fashion single handedly. It didn’t end well, but I think that means that I’m a fearless risk-taker of some kind.
I listen to the ‘Chocolate Cake’ sketch by Bill Cosby at least once a day.
If I don’t have ten things in a list, it makes me nervous

If those reasons are not enough to sway you into a genuine, well intentioned vote for this blog, then I understand. Really, I do. But if you want to...

What do you need to do to help a brother out?

Well, all you need to do is

Head to the Social Media Examiner site.
Add a comment to the bottom of this post.
Nominate www.thewhatnoise.com - but only if you want to.
Let them know why you are nominating me. If could be for a variety of reasons, but please only do it if you genuinely like my work, or it’s helped you in some way in any time.

I’ll keep you updated on my Facebook page as to whether or not I get shortlisted for the award. I hope I do, but there are loads of fantastic blogs out there on social media, and I’m just a little fish in that huge pond, so any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks for your time, and for your vote - normal service will be resumed shortly.

Ben