Splash, Then Ripples

On messages and how they are communicated. Digressions into emerging media, especially social media, cultural dynamics, and more.

What Would Ms. Twanners, I Mean, Miss Manners Say About Twitter?

Filed under Etiquette, Social Media by Cecilia Pineda Feret

Augie Ray wrote this very NEED TO READ post, on reasons why someone would unfollow me which I read on Social Media Today on etiquette/manners/rules on Twitter. I was very happy to read the following . . .

I hate to call anyone out, but I follow Chris Brogan and find his Tweets incredibly noisy because of all his personal @replies. This morning he’s sent tweets like “@pilarstella – thanks. So far, no rappelling. ; )” and “@qzcolszh1949 – complete coincidence, but hey, I’ll take it. : ).” What are these supposed to mean to me (or others) other than @qzcolszh1949 and @pilarstella? I find Chris an interesting thought leader, but I may unfollow him because he’s getting in the way of me tracking interesting tweets from other less noisy thought leaders!

My goodness, I thought I was one of the few to disagree with how a Social Media Expert is Tweeting, and maybe I am, but for someone like Chris Brogan to keep @replying to people without even hinting at context? PUH-lease, stop it already. Someone else in the comments section of Social Media Today defended him saying that maybe he didn’t follow those he was @replying and COULDN’T DM them.

Um, I bet you a Haagen-Daaz Cookie Dough Ice Cream Bar that he DOES follow them back, but this is his way of trying to show that he “engages with his followers” and that he is able to make his platform interactive. Me? I find it annoying and I DON’T want to have to click AGAIN to find out why he’s saying what he’s saying that is so cryptically intriguing.

It’s not just Augie and me, is it? Not to call poor CB out on this, but maybe it’s time people stopped ragging on Robert Scoble and his unfollowing adventures and give honest and constructive feedback to someone who needs to hear it.

Actually, to address that Scobleizer item for a moment, I think less people would have been annoyed if Robert hadn’t made such a big deal about unfollowing the too many people on his list. Then again, maybe he mentioned it once and it got the ball rolling and rolling . . .and rolling. Leading to namecalling and so on. Personally, I think Robert had the right idea, and enjoyed all the attention just a smidge, just perhaps on a communications level, his was NOT the right integrated approach.

These days, because of a recalcitrant BlackBerry, the way I follow certain thought leaders and friends out of almost 2000 is sending them to my phone as texts. It’s a lot of messages, but those I find most interesting and worth saving I send to my email to read later and deal with on a bigger screen than my phone. So far that is working for me. And I edit the ones that go to my phone periodically and swap them out for different ones.

I do have groups on TweetDeck, but find that I look at that less because I am often in waiting mode where I can just swoop through Text Messages. I find with favoriting on Twitter I don’t tend to go back, so I prefer to save interesting URLs through Google Bookmarks now which I can categorize. Note to self, ask Twitter to permit categorizing of favorites.

As for my way of tweeting, re#2 I DO thank publicly for RTs & Follow Friday mentions, etc., but not consistently. Sometimes I DM it. Still on the fence about that one.

I totally agree with Augie on the rest of the 8 items on his list. . . lest you anger the Twitter Gods, or, at the very least, your followers.

How about you, are you annoying anyone on Twitter?

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August 28, 2009 at 5:23 pm Comments (2)

12 Questions You Ask Yourself or Your Client Before Starting with Social Media

Filed under Results and Measurement, Social Media by Cecilia Pineda Feret

It’s highly amusing, and also incredibly frustrating, to hear accomplished business professionals claim that they simply DO NOT HAVE TIME for social media. Do they REALLY need it, they ask? They haven’t needed it before!

They are MUCH too busy to devote time to a communications vehicle that is, as far as they are concerned, an unproven method within the business arena, particularly where their industry is concerned . . .whether it is architecture, jewelry making, or even the latest unbeliever, a SOFTWARE COMPANY! I know! Crazy, right? They think, “Ok, if I try this, my sales are supposed to EXPLODE! Or at least that’s what you are telling me, RIGHT???. . .” Ummmm, nooooo . . .

Given the amount of information available on all of these networks, feeders, blog apps, widgets, etc. I think they are just overwhelmed and don’t know where or how to start. Even when they understand the WHY. They are willing to pay a consultant, but there are so many of us out here scrambling to open the eyes of Marketing Managers to entrepreneurs to CIOs to CMOs to CEOs, if given the opportunity.

Sometimes they feel they can try it on their own first and then they fail to make the most effective use of their time, (like the consultant who told me Twitter was useless and overwhelming for her, but had never heard of Tweetdeck . . . insert eyeroll here, hers!!) or they take a chance with someone who claimed to know what to do with Social Media and Networking just because they have been working in marketing for years.

These old media marketers then either denigrate, or otherwise minimize the potential success of an ongoing communications campaign that includes Social Media, or they promise the moon with it. Either way, expectations must be managed realistically, markets must be analyzed as well as the tools to use, and a strategy must be developed.

Then the tactics must be executed to further those objectives. That said many people just jump in and then go from there once they wade around a bit and assess the temperature of the water.

Here’s a quick checklist for businesses to consider:
1. Are their clients human at any level?
2. Are they individual consumers? Or do they only purchase products and services at work?
3. Are their clients online?
4. Do they want their clients to interact?
5. Are they willing to listen and not just post?
6. Are they willing to act as an information resource that covers an industry or even just a niche?
7. Are they willing to wait for results? How long?
8. What results do they expect?
9. Are they going to compare their results to those of others even if they are apples and oranges?
10. Are there specialty networks to address that they may not be aware of?
11. Do they realize that time is money, and if they don’t have money, they need to make the time?
12. And that if they don’t have the time now, do they think they will have MORE time later on when they will have to play catch up once all their competitors have established their brands within social media.

The list is endless . . .what questions would you ask?

This post was inspired by Chris Brogan’s post on the Social Media Life Raft.

I’ll save you the click, HERE’S HIS ORIGINAL POST . . .

Social Media Is Not a Life Raft

January 23, 2009 · 40 comments

US Airways Evacuation. When thinking about what social media is going to do for your business, please be wary of setting it up to be the salvation, the be-all, the life raft. It’s a set of tools, a strategy, and a handful of tactics. It’s not always appropriate. It’s not always the best thing in the world. But it’s not a guaranteed everything.

What we’re doing is changing how some of business communications are being done. And how? We’re looking for ways to rehumanize the web.

Sometimes, that’s not the goal. Sometimes, companies don’t need that service. As social media practitioners, make sure you’re thinking like this all the time. Ask yourself EVERY time whether this is the right fit. Though this isn’t surgery, we need to ask whether every diagnosis ends in an operation. Answer: no.

What’s the checklist for thinking about this? I’ve got my thoughts, but I want to hear yours. How about we think about that some more together? What do you think are the tell-tales for when a company might try social media and when not?

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January 24, 2009 at 4:13 pm Comments (0)