Insights

The Social Media Goes Gonzo Blog Carnival

Welcome to a first for me (and many others, it would seem). The Social Media Goes Gonzo blog carnival was suggested to me by fellow blogger and provider of invaluable information Kilroy_60.

Host of numerous carnivals himself, this is the first social media one and he asked yours truly if I’d be interested in hosting it. So, here we are.

The idea behind the carnival is to take you on a journey through the social media blogosphere, and introduce you to people that you may never have read otherwise.

Since I’m making this up on the fly (oh the fun!) I can only hope it comes out okay – don’t be too harsh on me! So, without further ado, we’re off!

Let Me Take You On A Journey.

Much has been made of how impersonal social media can be, due to its inherently online bias. Yet where else can you celebrate 500 Twitter followers with a cake? Of course, making sure you read the Fine Print can help avoid cries of “You left me, you really left me!” when you lose Twitter followers. Although you could always try out another 9 social media sites for local networkers if Twitter causes too much pain.

And that’s the great thing about social media – the whole web is your home page so you’re never truly alone. This opens up a whole new way of virtual socializing as well as networking. From talking to journalists on Twitter to taking on things like the dollar challenge to help kids in Colombia enjoy a better education, our voices are being heard like never before and making anything possible.

Of course, not everyone is convinced. There are still questions like, “Okay, social media rocks – but is it good for business?“. It’s a fair question but one that can be answered fairly easily – yes, it is. If you’re willing to listen. This will help you avoid 6 common mistakes companies make in social media.

A slightly more difficult question to answer is why cheating is okay in social media. Let’s face it, no-one likes cheaters – but are there lesser cheats than others? Perhaps – you decide. After all, the life we live comes from the choices we make.

Interactivity is another area that both individuals and businesses can benefit from with social media. Did you know, for instance, that it’s helped product ambassadors help solve customer issues immediately? Of course, offers of help are just one facet of social media – many are simply happy bragging about their Gettysburg trip to their online buddies. Personal and professional – it’s all there. The connecting factor is the sociability of it all.

Yet with all this socialness, are we in danger of opening up just a little too much? Or is that the point? What is too much information in social media anyway? I guess it boils down to if you are worried about numbers or people. If it’s numbers, information isn’t really important – but if it’s people, it opens up yourself that little bit more and helps build that all-important relationship.

After all, at the end of the day, relationships are what social media is all about. It’s why you have people so passionate about stopping the automated messages on Twitter, as it feels so impersonal. It’s why we all help in growing bolder Twitters so they can enjoy the experience more. We want to be social; we want to build relationships.

A great way to do this is via a blog, and it can be fun as well. From just starting out and raising a baby blog to the other end of the age scale and discovering what Johnny Cash can teach us about blogging, bloggers are fostering relationships every day with their readers. Bloggers can share milestones, like a blog’s first year in the blogosphere; they can share advice on finding your identity, like offering 5 tips to stand out online if you are John Smith.

Discussing the state of the blog with your readers is another great way to foster your relationship with them. Asking what they like, what they’d change – it’s letting them be a part of it. And being a part of something helps you solidify your place in the social media universe and that of your blog – and if you’ve already invited your readers to jump on board, it’ll be a place already filled with friends.

Business blogs are becoming more popular too for their ability to build company/customer relationships, and not just in traditionally office-based occupations either. For instance, the combination of heavy equipment and social networking may seem strange at first, but should it be? There are all types of businesses, so shouldn’t there be all types of business blogs?

And that’s the beauty of social media – there are no boundaries because of “tradition”. Instead, it’s adaptable to what you’re already doing. You don’t need to say, “Goodbye SEO, hello social marketing” if you’re a search engine specialist; instead, use both together to strengthen results. Scholastically, social media can connect professors and professionals to further mindsets between the two. Flexibility is its strength.

It’s true that, to some, social media is a language of its own – like anything, it’s not for everyone. But if you’re even just the slightest bit curious to learn more about that thing called social media, you can be sure there will be plenty of hands to guide you along the way. After all, just like this blog carnival has been, it’s a journey we can take together.

My sincere thanks to everyone who made this maiden voyage of the social media goes Gonzo blog carnival possible: Michael Litman, John Carson, Allen Taylor, Jonathan Crossfield, Rachel Marek, Matt Churchill, David Miller, Julie Schwietert Collazo & Francisco Collazo, Teresa Hall, Shannon Cherry, Justin Goldsborough, Kari Rippetoe, Drew Gneiser, Tim Jahn, Vision Runner, Jared O’Toole, Marc Middleton, ASM Development, Andy Klebacka, Kilroy_60, Hjortur Smarason, Zoe Westhof, Anthony McCune, Jacki Brown, and Sam Bradley.

Conversation Is Good

: Image by Clearly Ambiguous via Flickr

Recently, I found a blog post from Paul Seaman, a? PR professional from Zurich, Switzerland. In it, Paul makes predictions about the future of social media and how it will fit in with traditional media and PR.

At the time, while I agreed with some of his points I also disagreed with quite a few. I posted a link to the article on Twitter and asked for people’s opinions.

The responses were varied, but generally they were of the opinion that some of Paul’s predictions were skewed. Not necessarily wrong, but maybe just looking at the subject matter in a slightly offhand manner.

(For the record, I have nothing against Paul – and I’m sure the same goes for the people who responded on Twitter – and his credentials in his bio certainly offer his authority on a number of topics).

Like most things, it’s an “agree to disagree” situation and that’s normally the end of it. Except Paul feels his reputation is being questioned, and has written another post responding to the comments made on Twitter and a blog post by Jeff over at Swatting At Flies. Now normally I’d respond to Paul’s post via his comments section – unfortunately, you have to register at his blog to make a comment, and as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not a big fan of this type of comment moderation. Judging by the comments on that particular post, neither are most people.

So, unfortunately, I’ll have to respond here. I say unfortunately, since I don’t want this to appear as, or turn into, a “you said, he said” type of affair – fingers crossed. Paul’s initial views are in Italic.

I did say, the term social media will fade, because all media are social, otherwise they are not media, and because old media will converge with new media.

While I agree that “old media” will converge with “new media”, I’m not so sure about all media being social. The basis of social media is the mass interaction it offers users. Compare that to newspapers, where the only interaction might be a letter to the editor, or TV news channels that simply broadcast news with no interaction from viewers, and you have to ask how social that type of media is. Conversation is the difference here – anything else is pretty much just a broadcast.

?Old-fashioned? CNN is already the fourth most followed Twitter. The number one spot is held by President-elect Barack Obama. That shows how the real world elitist institutions are already dominating the Twitter-sphere.

While these figures may be correct, the CNN Twitter account is a perfect example of the older-style media’s non-interaction when using Twitter. Their account is simply a news feed which, while commendable that they’re on Twitter, anyone could get the same information from CNN’s site.

As far as Barack Obama’s concerned, while his backroom team’s use of Twitter and other social media platforms was undoubtedly excellent during the whole election campaign, the last Twitter message was a victory one on November 5 2008.

The opportunity for Obama (or at least his communications team) to really show his willingness to interact online with his voters looks increasingly like an election tool. Time will tell. In the meantime, for an example of how leading institutions are truly engaging their audience online, look no further than the Zappos Twitter account.

Moreover, any medium that is so limited is never going to be ideal for communicating serious ideas.

I’m not so sure Twitter is limited. Every day you see business-to-business interaction and new client/company relationships forming. You see worthwhile causes like Tweetsgiving and the 12for12k Challenge taking shape and bringing together communities to help millions worldwide.

You see events like JournChat bringing journalists, PR professionals and bloggers together to foster inter-media relationships, as well as initiatives like PRIntern connecting PR students looking to intern and companies looking for these interns. There are thousands of other ways that this “limited medium” is opening up the minds of thought leaders and business owners every day so, yes, I disagree that Twitter is limited.

Human interaction is all about networking and being social. Online discussions today will get better, but I doubt that Danny Brown and his friends will play a significant role in making it so.

Here we seem to agree – although I’ll leave the part about me and my friends for other people to decide.

Human interaction is all about networking and being social, which is exactly what social media is all about – the interaction. Look at Twitter, where there are millions of conversations taking place – personal, business, technical and others. Look at FriendFeed where more conversations are happening; or Stumbleupon, where people are interacting with each other by recommending sites they feel their friends might like.

This is the opposite to the ?not-very-social? digital access to ?broadcasters? and ?narrowcasters? future that Paul predicts.

As I mention earlier, I really don’t want this to turn into a tit-for-tat debate; Paul makes some good points in his initial blog post, and others in his follow-up post. I guess I’m just confused that someone with Paul’s expertise and forward-thinking would pretty much discount one of the most valuable tools in business branding and promotion today.

Of course, we can always agree to disagree – can’t we?

When Does Embellishing End and Lying Begin?

: Image by ATENCION: via Flickr

Let me ask you a question – what’s your view of the PR industry? It doesn’t matter if you’re involved in it professionally, someone that uses its services or just an average person on the street – is it a positive or negative view?

I’m guessing that the majority of views about the industry I love and work in are fairly negative. There’s the belief that we’re charlatans who are just after a client’s money, we don’t tell the truth and we have an over-inflated opinion of ourselves.

Sadly, all of that and more is true of some of the “professionals” in the PR industry.

Yet for every one bad egg, I can pretty safely say that there are many more good and ethical PR professionals who are trying desperately to rid the industry of the individuals who give it a bad name.

By working differently; having our practices transparent and open for anyone to see; and encouraging the new breed of PR professionals and interns coming through to have more say in our industry. It’s a slow process, but it is happening.

Which is why this press release from Melrose Jeweler’s disgusts me so much.

According to the release, Hollywood actor Owen Wilson was contemplating suicide until he realized that the quality of his own life must be good because of the quality of his Rolex watch. That’s right – his watch proved to him the value of his life.

What. The. F**k?!?

Now, I don’t know how serious Owen Wilson’s issues are, or his state of mind – I’ve never been a big follower of celebrity news. But whatever his problems (or anyone else that feels so desperate in their situation that they consider taking their own life), I’m pretty sure a piece of jewelry isn’t going to mean a whole lot to them, no matter how luxurious.

At first, I (like many others) thought that the blame for the morally-lacking release laid at Rolex’s feet. But when you actually take a little time to look into the story and the background of it, you realize that it originates from the blog of Melrose Jewelers. Dig a little further still, and you see that Melrose Jewelers are only selling pre-owned Rolex watches – which kind of makes them little more than a second-hand watch shop.

Taking all that into context, and the sheer crassness of the blog post and subsequent press release, I wonder if Rolex are even aware of the statements being made by Melrose Jewelers on behalf of their brand? Since the original blog post was published on December 15 2008, and I can’t find any rebuttal online from Rolex, it looks like they’re not aware of the release. Which then has me asking more questions:

If one of the most well-known companies in the world for luxury watches isn’t aware of something as bad as this story, what does it say about their brand monitoring strategy?

Are the owners of Melrose Jewelers so insensitive they’ll resort to measures such as using someone’s suffering to try and boost profits? Didn’t they learn anything from the Back-Up Shotgun Rack fiasco?

Does the editorial process of newswire sites need looking at if they think this kind of release is acceptable? Or are our morals no longer part of approval?

There’s a lot wrong with this story and I’m sure there’s a lot more to come, particularly if Rolex is still to find out about it. (And I’m hoping that’s the case and that they’re not part of the whole mess). On early viewing, it does look like it’s a horrible PR stunt taking advantage of someone’s suffering and that only helps confirm people’s negative views of the industry.

Looking at it more, though, it’s clear that it’s the jeweler that’s at fault – even the media contact on the press release is a “Mike D.” from the Melrose sales team. Which makes me question whether there was any PR guidance given at all – personally, I doubt it. No PR professional – no good one, that is – would have touched this with a barge pole. Additionally, there are no direct quotes from either Rolex or Owen Wilson – another sign that the press release lacks any authoritative backing.

Lessons learned? Know how your brand is being represented online. Monitor your name at all times. Your reputation depends on it, and that’s your most valuable asset.

As for Melrose Jewelers? I ask you this – what do you think this does for your reputation?

Update. Following this post, I received a Cease and Desist letter from an attorney representing Melrose Jewelers. You can read all about it and my response here.

Accentuate The Positives

: Image via Wikipedia

Can you remember when television was called the root of all evil? How it was blamed for desensitizing kids and breaking up the family fibre? American author and cultural critic Neil Postman wrote a book about it in 1985, called Amusing Ourselves to Death.

Postman’s argument was that television lessened the educational growth of people, as well as dumbed down arguments, by going for entertainment and images over political discourse and more serious issues.

While there’s no denying that television can be one distraction too many at times, there’s also no doubting its educational uses as well – National Geographic and The History Channel being just two examples.

Jump forward a little more than twenty years, and there’s a new target – the Internet.

It’s being blamed for everything from turning kids into zombies to the disappearance of social skills in the “real world”. But is it really that bad?

Hey Teacher, Leave These Kids Alone.

Far from turning kids into online-addicted mindless zombies, a new study shows that the Internet-savvy youth of today are far more creative than we were. The Digital Youth Research report, funded by the MacArthur Foundation, uses social network giant MySpace as an example. Just creating a MySpace page and customizing it shows a level of creativity and basic programming skills beyond most offline equivalents.

Of course, this report isn’t on the front pages of traditional media for one simple reason – it offers a positive view of the very medium that sells newspapers when the headlines are screaming negatives. If the report had said the Internet and social networking was hurting our kids’ education, you can be sure it would have been a lead story with quotes from “experts” all too willing to lend their view.

But you know something? We’re just as bad at times.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

One of the foremost sayings about social media is how it’s bringing people together. Opening up doors that had previously been locked, and offering help and encouragement to anyone that needs it. Simply put, the caring medium. But it’s not always like that, is it?

How can it be when bloggers are vociferously attacked for writing a sponsored post? Or when people take being “unfriended” by someone so seriously that they decide to investigate to almost stalker-like proportions? Add in the antagonistic comments that bloggers receive for their points of view, and you have to wonder if we really are that social.

So here’s what we need to do.

Accentuate the Positives.

It’s all too easy to be negative about something. By our very nature, human beings are happiest when we’re complaining. We love it when someone jumps the queue so we can open up on them, or our heroes make a mistake so we can bring them down.

Let’s stop this. Now.

Instead, let’s celebrate the good that social media can offer and concentrate on making that the norm, as opposed to the excuse. Let’s tell everyone about the positive thing that happened to us today because of social media.

Here’s an example. Yesterday, I met with a potential new client that found me through Twitter. His company is in the same city as me, so we met up for coffee and discussed a potential project. And even if I don’t win that project, the product he wants me to promote is so good I’ll be using it myself anyway. Without Twitter, he wouldn’t have been aware of me, and I would have been missing out on a great application.

That’s just one example from one person. I’m sure you have tons of examples of your own.

The question is – are you sharing them?

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Listening To Vampire Lovers

: Image by bryancrump via Flickr

If you’ve got teenage kids, you’re probably aware of Twilight. Even if you don’t have teenagers, or aren’t even parents at all, it’s pretty hard to miss the pop culture phenomenon that is the Twilight saga.

Set over four books, it’s the tale of a love story between a teenage human girl and a teenage vampire boy. It’s not the greatest of stories and critics have complained about author Stephenie Meyer’s’ writing style, but none of that matters – the saga is a huge success.

The reason? It knew its audience – mainly teenage girls – and marketed to them accordingly.

The movie based on the first book was also a major success over the Christmas period, due in no small part to the incredibly good-looking and talented cast that brought the pages to life and the director that gelled it all together. While it swayed from the plot of the book in parts, fans were already looking forward to the next movie.

Then things started to go wrong.

The director of the first movie left, stating that the schedule of the next movie clashed with her timetable (although another view was that she clashed with some of the lead actors). A new director (Chris Weitz, who directed The Golden Compass based on another fantasy series) was brought in and this is where the fans are starting to show their disdain for the choice.

The supporting cast for the second movie includes actors that have appeared in High School Musical, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and The Suite Life with Zack and Cody. The feeling amongst the fans of the book series is that the director and producers of the next movie are going for “the Disney crowd” to try and expand the audience.

This is where they’re making their mistake, and it’s one that isn’t just restricted to movie studios.

Know Your Audience

It’s a given that you need to move on and explore new areas, or else you’ll be left standing while others around you are grazing from pastures new. But why do so many businesses seem intent on alienating their existing customer base while they look for new ones?

Your customers are the best PR, marketing, advertising and customer service employees your business will ever have. You don’t pay them to stay with you – they’re there because they want to be. You offer something they want, and you offer it in the way they want it as well. You really want to lose all this just to go for the in-fashion crowd of the moment?

Vampires Are Immortal – You Aren’t

Part of the attraction of the Twilight series is that it offers an idyllic view of what vampire life is like. The early pain of transformation gives way to the deliverance of extraordinary talents and strengths. Not to mention everlasting life and never growing old.

Businesses don’t have that luxury. While the company may initially be full of incredibly talented people across the board, temptations and dangers always hover in the background. Better paid jobs elsewhere for star employees and unwanted takeovers from larger competitors are just some of the possibilities.

So having a strong customer base is key to help you through these challenges. They’re the ones that will stay with you, the company, even if their favourite salesperson has left. They’re the ones that will buy your products, boost your profits that in turn will help you stave off competition and make you stronger.

Leaving them in the lurch for Johnny-come-lately will only serve to antagonize them and make them question your leadership. Once that happens, it’s game over. Sure, you can go after new blood – but that’s going to cost you and it’s also time-consuming. Do you have both in abundance?

There’s nothing wrong in looking to change your environment – stagnation is second only to ignorance when it comes to bad business practice. But change is only good when it involves everyone – remembering the people who put you in the position to consider change in the first place shouldn’t even be something you need to think twice about.

It’s not too much to ask – is it?