Chocolate. Alcohol. Cheese. Cursing. Typical things that one would give up for Lent. I’ve tried to all of them for the full forty (read: forty-six when including Sundays) for Lent. In the Christian faith, Lent is to remind us of the temptation that Jesus endured in the desert from Satan. Lent is a time for us to give up one of our vices. I’m not religious. I go to church on the “important” holidays but this year I really wanted to give Lent a valiant effort. For the first time ever, I can truthfully say I survived Lent without cheating. I gave up Facebook. When people heard I was giving up Facebook there were a lot of questions: Why not Twitter? What do you miss most? Obstacles? Will you go back? etc. I can tell you this, life was better without Facebook. Continue reading
Tag Archives: twitter
Anywhere, Nowhere and Everywhere in Between
If social media has taught us anything, it’s that describing platforms and apps as being ‘of the moment’ and ‘the next big thing’ are as common as having a Facebook profile. While I am typically intrigued to hear about the new and better that lay around the corner, my threshold for the teasing and waiting are minimal at best. Consequently, the announcement of Twitter’s Anywhere left me looking everywhere on the web for details that were to be found nowhere.
A succinct post on Twitter’s blog offered minimal insight. Focused heavily on the conceptual aspects of the new open platform and walking readers through the rationale behind it, I was craving the when (not just a ‘mid April,’ but a March 27th at 10:01:35a.m. EST level of detail) and wanting the answer to be ‘now.’ Continue reading
Why We Have Such a Crush on Twitter (and Not On Facebook)
It’s no secret PR professionals have an unhealthy relationship with Twitter. Despite the existence of countless other social networking platforms, including Facebook (which actually has much higher numbers than Twitter), people working in PR seem to naturally gravitate towards the micro-blogging service more than anything else. We give out our Twitter handles at networking events and print them on our business cards, which is especially interesting considering LinkedIn is probably the most professional social media platform out there. However, professionalism doesn’t have everything to do with it- Twitter is as much for creating friendships as it is for forming business relationships. So why are all of us flacks such hopeless (and I mean hopeless) Twitter fiends? Continue reading
The Inner Turmoil of a SM User VS. Marketer
Working in the social media space, I can safely say that overall I understand the marketing perks of Twitter, Facebook, etc. Sure I participate in these sites as part of my job and as marketing research, but at the end of the day I’m also a user.
Originally I fought tooth and nail against signing up for Twitter because at the time I didn’t see a need for it. I kept wondering, “Who is going to care what I have to say?” Obviously I have changed my tune, and decided to just dive into the world of Twitter once I found my niche. Still, I primarily use it solely for work.
Lately, however, my social media conundrum is with Foursquare. As a marketer, I know I should be using it; as a consumer, I just don’t care. Continue reading
Could SM Become the New Product Placement?
From AOL’s prominence in You’ve Got Mail to T-Mobile’s stronghold on MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge franchise, product placements are hard to miss. They’ve run the gamut from subtly integrated to awkwardly implanted, generated buzz, and, prompted viewers to reevaluate their perceptions of endorsement. But what’s next?
Could SM come to occupy a similar role in movies and television programs? Is it reasonable to think we could see a day where reality show contestants are live tweeting? Could Facebook updates replace some of the face-to-face interaction? Not to mention how the speed at which messages move in the SM sphere seems ideal for helping the contestants on reality dating shows to spread their trash talk and drama effectively. Continue reading
Take the next step: Meet in Real Life
How often do you talk to your closest friends? Once a day? On the phone or via text? For me, I talk to my closest friend probably every other day. Now think about how often you converse with your Twitter community. I talk to PRBreakfastClub and #prbc on a daily basis. The great connections I’ve made from Twitter have moved on to other platforms like e-mail and G-chat.
It is amazing the bonds that are built without ever meeting someone in real life. I bet you may not have known that PRBreakfastClub was started with some members having never met each other in real life. Last week was the first time we could say we’ve all finally met in person. However, I do want to reinforce the importance of face-to-face communication and how to take these connections we’ve made online into “real life.” Continue reading
You’re Invited: #Chatmixer, March 9
Did you know that there are more than a dozen inudstry “Twitter chats” that focus on PR, social media, marketing and blogging? You may participate in one or two of these conversations, but it’s impossible to find time to chime in on all of them, right?
Until now.
You’re invited to join us for the ultimate chat mixer, taking place this Tuesday, March 9, starting at 8 p.m. EST. Justin Goldsborough, Valerie Simon and I are hosting this party to help people interested in PR and social media forge new connections and build their network. Continue reading
Do you believe in social media?
When I spoke at the PRSA-CVC Social Media Conference last fall, I told my audience, “You can’t engage in social media for the sake of doing so.” To my audience, the majority of whom were there because they lacked experience with but felt pressured to engage in social media, this statement probably seemed bizarre. As though I were implying that you don’t have to jump on the SM band wagon.
A few months later, I realize that my statement was a bit more accurate than I initially thought. With SM, there is virtually nothing to be gained by going through the motions. Having made what I am sure some will perceive as an incredulous statement, I think it is important for companies to understand the value of SM before engaging in it. Continue reading
Thoughts from SMPR: Part 2—Stepping Away from the Rainbow
Following up on my post from last week about SMPR, I promised to go into a bit more detail about my second main point during that panel: It’s time we all step away from the social media rainbow just a tad and realize that many CEOs/C-levels don’t fully grasp the impact of social media. Therefore, we need to do a better job of helping them see a corrallary between getting a great placement in The New York Times and how many times that piece was retweeted, commented on or whatever the case may be.
The fact is, folks, many people will never get this, and we need to learn to be OK with that. In fact, we need to be better than OK with that; we need to help them understand why having blogger X tweet about our company is just as important in many cases as a write-up in Shoes Today. We need to put these great social media accomplishments that I know many of you are working hard to achieve each day into the context of what our executives know and understand. Continue reading
The Future of Sales…Twitter
It’s very interesting to see the evolution of social media. From just networking with friends and looking at fun pictures, to conducting business and measuring interaction, social media has become the means of communication. The response time of a complaint or compliment on when someone is mentioned is astonishing. One time I mentioned, “Everytime Kate Perry E-mails me, I get excited for a split second thinking it was the singer, then it’s Vocus” and instantly Vocus responds “We’ll be sure to mention that to Kate!”
Its a great feeling having your voice heard, just recently I tweeted something negative about Cision, our best friend and worst enemy. I tweeted that Cision was going way too slowly and i’m sure I did a big “You Suck,” but I instantly got a response asking to do something to my brower to speed it up. Great customer service there. However, that is not the point of this post. Continue reading