Side note: I know I need to have the camera sideways, but am still getting the hang of that layout. It is rather awkward.
Category: Social Media and the Web
Social media presents huge opportunities to engage with all your stakeholders: customers, owners, and the larger community.
Some thoughts on “Serious academics take the media seriously”
I found this post over at Small Pond Science fascinating. As a fan of science, if not a scientist, and deeply interested in social media’s presence in our society, Terry’s McGlynn’s post is very relevant. Terry calls out an anonymous article over at The Guardian basically dismissing efforts by scientists to engage with their work in the world of Facebook & Twitter.
I, for one, think there’s great value in the public debate. Not everything on social media is fluff. And, if it’s to be taken seriously, we need to encourage more, not less engagement by scholars online.
A vlog post: Pokemon Go
Pokemon Go is quite the thing right now. There’s stuff to learn with all this.
Bloody Small Screens
If you know anything about me, I LOVE the mobile revolution. However, I’m noticing that posting on the small screens increases the rate of small errors. Little autocorrect word substitutions, mainly. Ones small enough, and having enough of the right letters in a similar sequence as the desired word that they go live wrong.
Had such this morning. Posted an update to a Facebook page I manage with “create” in place of “great”. I read the post several times before hitting publish. Ugh!
I take my writing seriously, so even small grammatical errors bother me. So, with that, I have been trying to post more from a computer, something with a monitor. I notice that my erorr rate is much smaller that way. Plus, I feel more focused.
And I need to recognize I’m human and mistakes will happen. But I never intend to like it, and will be satisfied with any mistakes. Ever.
Friendship in the Digital Age
Lately I’ve pondered “connection”. With several hundred Facebook friends, LinkedIn connection, over a thousand Twitter followers….maintaining connection starts to feel easy. Too easy.
I’m noticing that I interact with a smallish group of the same people on those different channels. These are dear friends, but not even close to the larger group of people I want to maintain relationship with. So many good folks that I keep thinking “why don’t we get together more often?” That bothers me.
I signed up for Plaxo ages ago, and I really haven’t done anything to maintain that list. But I get emails reminding me of birthdays and any other events (anniversaries) that I noted in my contact when I synced. These reminders are nice in that they trigger me to reach out. That’s a start.
So, I’m trying to “up my game”. Going to build a list of those contacts to, well, contact. I would like to start sending notecards out, too. That just seems nice.
Any of you feeling this lament? This disconnect from connection. What are you doing about it?
Life, Death and Social Media
Yesterday had one of the surrealer moments in my life. A friend from childhood has been ailing at Stevens hospital (properly, it’s now Swedish Edmonds), and was given a few days/weeks to live. So, last night he posted on Facebook that he had just hours to live and that this was his last post. With his deteriorating health, I fully believed the statement.
There’s much within this, but I’m focused on the newness of this. Since he has a phone, which can be worked pretty easily even when weak and exhausted, this contact was able to be pushed out. Made me think of the last minute letters sent by rebels, resisters, those executed for political gain. Those letters were far more effort, and would only be readily sharable with a small group of people. Now, with a few strokes of your thumb, messages are sent to out to thousands, potentially millions. The ease of mass communication deeply changes our connection.
As shocking as such a message is, I expect this to become more commonplace. Perhaps we can eliminate the feeling of isolation. And, in the end, perhaps it’s good. Maintaining connection in the most challenging and intimate of times.
The Ever Changing World Of Social Media
Was just reading this piece over at Business Insider: Teens are ditching Instagram for Snapchat at a stunning rate. Well, this reinforces one of my underlying assumptions: that what we’ve currently labeled “social media” is a highly unstable sector.
So, we see that Twitter is falling in relevance; that’s been prognosticated about forever. And the same with the Facebook and it’s sidekick Instagram. But we’re seeing growth with Snapchat. Again, the focus of this article is teens, but I expect they’ll be the leading edge of social media trends.
They have two graphs that really capture things:
And this guy, which I think is more telling:
So, the world is shifting and shifting rapidly. It’ll be good to dive into Snapchat, if you’re not already there.
Pro-tips to maximize social media marketing
I subscribed to Ragan’s PR Daily years ago. Ragan provides timely insight into the current state of PR and it’s related fields.
Lauren Friedman just posted “3 tips for creating a real-time marketing command center“. Her points are spot-on. Read the article! However, here’s the  highlights:
- Social Media marketing/PR is about engagement (sorry for the buzzword, but it’s important to get this). Listen to the audience, read hashtag threads, know what the discussion is about and your relevance to it.
- Know your market! How is your audience going to respond your commentary. And, sometimes, silence is valuable. One doesn’t need to be involved in every high-profile discussion, and at times it’s critical to steer clear.
- Teamwork: having valued “ears” you can bounce ideas off “right now” is valuable. Diversity is key to those teams, ensuring you avoid the tone-deaf statements.
So, take a minute and give it a read.
The independent artist and social media
Earlier this evening I attended a performance by Aaron Strumpel at my church. Talking to the musicians afterwards, I was reminded of several ways that modern technology is changing the music business. Yeah, there’s tech impacting performance, but that’s not really what’s got me jazzed right now. No, it’s the way the music business is transforming due to social media.
Artists like Amanda Palmer and Zoe Keating have carved a living out of the modern music business. They’ve mastered an evolving toolbox that revolves around social networking. Interweaving websites & blogs with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, KickStarter, Patreon, along with such classics as email. With a blend of genuineness and talent, they’ve built a worldwide fan base who delight in any opportunity to assist these artists they love. Ultimately, the key is a genuine delight in their fans. By loving them, taking pleasure in the interaction, these fans are passionately in love.
In Amanda’s book she talks about selling 10,000 albums (which her label defined as failure) and 10,000 Kickstarter investors. In so many ways, 10k is not that dramatic. But she’s been able to leverage and engage that audience. If she was simply making a living, that, to me, would be glorious success. However, she’s been able to launch some very innovative and novel projects. A success beyond measure, in my eyes. And her audience is intimately involved, more than the fundraising. An additional layer of richness.
This plethora of tools speaks to opportunity. Opportunity which excites me; I see great things arising. And I both look forward to witnessing the glory of what’s coming, and taking part. For I always seek to be part of cool things.
Twitter, Facebook and the next thing
I’ve thought a bit lately about social media platforms. For me, Twitter seems to becoming more dominated by brands and “community” profiles. Most of my recent new followers have not been individuals, but brands/services. But that’s really only a piece of the pie.
From a US/western cultural perspective, Facebook and Twitter have probably hit their highest volume. I expect there’ll be incremental growth, but the ability to really leverage these two mostly consists in engaging folks already there. And there’s the digging through the morass of content; EVERYONE is on Facebook, nearly everyone is on Twitter (at least as far as brands go).
There’s something to be said, though, for being part of a community as it launches. Early users of sites that become popular end up with richer connection opportunities. Now, the glorious question is “what’s going to be the next big thing?” Welp, god knows. The best way is to be dipping your proverbial toes in everything, which is what I try to do. Whether Instagram or Snapchat, I’ve made it a point to explore them. I also make it a point to keep “young folks” in my life, and ask them what sites/apps they’re using.
No, I’m not projecting the death of Twitter, or Facebook. I do see these platforms evolving, though, and somewhat stagnating. For me, I want to be aware of what’s coming, where the cool kids are. Living ahead of the curve has been a desire for ages. As much, tech-wise, as my budget allows. By establishing presence on newly minted app and web goodness, I seek readiness to pivot as the winds of social media life flow.