Social Media | riverboxx

Archive for the 'Social Media' Category

Will Facebook end email as we know it?

Published November 17, 2010 Marketing , Social Commentary , Social Media 5 Comments
Tags: email is out, email marketing, email spam sucks, Facebook is in, Facebook messaging, hate email, what your email address says about you, will Facebook end email

Finally! Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced this week Facebook’s new messaging system, saying:

“It’s not e-mail. It handles e-mail in addition to Facebook messages, and Facebook IM, and other IM and SMS and all the other different ways that you want to communicate,” Zuckerberg said. “It’s true, people are going to be able to have Facebook.com e-mail addresses, but it’s not e-mail.”

Zuckerberg went on to say that he was “inspired by conversations with high schoolers who insisted to him that they use text messaging and Facebook messages in lieu of e-mail because ‘it’s too slow’ and ‘too formal.’ “ I haven’t been in high school in, um, awhile, but I second that emoticon!

Email is out. Facebook is in.
I say this as I delete 19 of 23 emails received today from an assortment of retailers, organizations and other businesses selling stuff. Three of those emails alone were from Toys ‘R’ Us; two came within 20 minutes of each other. (Maybe they should change their name to Emails ‘R’ Us.) The 20th email was a political joke and the other three were from friends confirming our dinner plans.

I have a Blackberry and I admit, I love the little red blinking light indicating I have a message. At least, I used to. Now it irritates as I get yet another sales ad. When I do receive an email from a friend, it’s a quaint surprise, like receiving a hand-written letter in the mail. Looks like it’s time for my quarterly unsubscribe fest.

Between Facebook ads and status updates, LinkedIn invitations and group discussions, Twitter streams, and catching up on blog reading, email has become like voice mail–I never check it and when I do, I skim and delete. Sometimes I forget which emails I responded to. Sometimes I miss important ones, like the one about my volunteer day at school being changed to a new day or a bill pay reminder. Oops. I am forgetting which emails I responded to and what I said when I did. I’m overwhelmed with status updates and messages and likes and comments. I tell my kids to make their backpacks and zip up their lunches. I can’t remember people’s names or whether it’s Tuesday or Wednesday. I know I’m 41 years old, but this is ridiculous!

Email has become one more “to do” on a very long to-do list. So yeah, even though Facebook messaging accounts may be a hyped up cousin of email, I’m ready for something new. Simple. Easy. It may change how we communicate at work, too. According to this article, independent research company Gartner says that:

“20 percent of workers will use social networks as their primary vehicle for business communications by 2014. According to Gartner, greater availability of social networking services, along with changing demographics and work styles, are responsible for the business move toward social networking services…social networks will begin to invade corporate email platforms…Contacts, calendars and tasks will be shared across both email and social networking platforms. Gartner predicts that by 2012 all contact lists, calendar items, and messaging clients on all smartphones will be “socially enabled applications.”

Will Facebook end email as we know it? Probably not. Plenty of people still use it, especially those who refuse to partake in the social media Kool-Aid. (Although the wrong email address can date you–see what yours is saying about you if you dare/care.) When email came around, it’s not like regular mail and voice mail disappeared. Those tools just became more quaint and old-fashioned–and taken over by junk mail and telemarketers. What remains to be seen is whether Facebook can keep businesses from taking over our social experience and turning it into one massive sales cesspool.

The 8 most annoying Facebook personalities

Published October 13, 2010 Creative Life , Fun , Social Commentary , Social Media 9 Comments
Tags: bad Facebook behavior, Facebook, Facebook guidelines, social media do's and don'ts

Recently I took an informal survey of my Facebook friends to see what they thought were the best and worst things about Facebook. The stories and insights that emerged were fascinating, revealing and too good not to share. Today, we focus on the most annoying. (Of course we all know that WE don’t do these things, but we probably all have a few of them lurking in our friend list.)

Who, me?

The Instigator. This is the person who likes to stir up trouble by posting argumentative comments, strong political or religious opinions, or bashing people who annoy them. I once watched a couple break up via Facebook–complete with status updates ripping each other to pieces and giving everyone enough detail in the comments to know who cheated on who, who threw the plastic chair first, who had a drug problem, who needed to grow up and act their age – ?

It was like a soap opera that I couldn’t stop watching. Thankfully, they both deleted the majority of posts later that day and took it offline. Please, if you’re breaking up or pissed off at something someone else said, pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. Don’t subject the rest of us to the bitterness.

Game Addict. The consensus was clear: NO MORE fish or mafia wars or Farkle scores or farm animal stories (unless they were funny and sarcastic).

Photo Upchucker. “Florence just uploaded 577 new photos of the kids’ clog dancing class!” I’m sorry, but I can’t even look at that many photos of my own kids let alone someone else’s, especially of clog dancing (no offense, clog dancers).

This is also the person who posts photo upchucks of you–tagged!–so that the lovely photo of you with three chins or a mouthful of food and one eye half-shut is right there, front and center, on your photo page.

The Drama Queen. Another day, another drama. You’ll see constant updates that are all about the drama at work, the drama at home, the drama with the kids. One wife posted that her young husband was going to the ER for what he thought was a heart attack. 28 comments and two hours later, turns out he had indigestion and everything was fine.

Later she posted that they went out for dinner and a movie–talk about anticlimactic. Maybe…hold off on the status update until you have more facts; if your husband is having a heart attack, why the hell are you on Facebook???

The Hypochondriac. It’s one thing to have a casual acquaintance who is a hypochondriac. It’s quite another to be Facebook friends with him or her and bear witness to every bee sting, garden injury, torn ligament, achy toenail and virus to end all viruses–all in one week. I’m sorry, but if you start sounding like one of my elderly aunts grousing about your aches and pains, I’m gonna have to hide your achy breaky arse.

The Narcissist. If you never comment on anyone else’s posts, never join the conversation unless it’s about you, and only post things about yourself, hello Narcissist!. If you’re an ER doc or attorney or president of a company and just decided to run for mayor of your town, hey, that’s great, but posts like, “Just saved another life today!” or “The limo was late, AGAIN” or “I hate when the maid makes my bed wrong!” tend to alienate us regular people. What fun is it comment on THAT (unless you know them well enough to make fun of them).

The Facebook-aholic: You know who you are. You post more than 6 times a day–interesting links, funny videos, photos, status update quips, quotes, you name it, you post it. Some of it is interesting, but after a while, people start wondering if you have a life.

The Hypochondriac Narcissist with Photo Upchuck Tendencies: Enough said.

Next time, I’ll share the positive aspects of Facebook from my independent survey. In the meantime, feel free to share your favorite Facebook personalities, good or bad.

The Talking Vodka: 3 ways not to have a Facebook fan page conversation

Published September 16, 2010 Copywriting , Creative Writing , Marketing , Social Media 2 Comments
Tags: how to write Facebook status updates, how to write for fan pages, social media conversations, social media engagement, voice

If you’ve ever read fan page “conversations,” you might wonder, “Who is writing this and why does it sound so…not real?” At their best, fan page conversations are entertaining, fun, enlightening, useful. At their worst, they are like the boorish party guest who interrupts everyone, chews with their mouth open and speaks like The Terminator.

Like a lot of marketing people, I’m up to my elbows in social media how-to’s, to-do’s and what-nots. Now, I’m not a Social Media Guru, but I am a writer and a real person, so I want to read things that are well written and fun on any page I’m going to “like.” Based on that simple criteria, here are three ways NOT to have a Facebook fan page conversation:

1. Show Fake or Creepy Interest. Here’s a recent conversation from a vodka fan page:

The Vodka: “We want some fun stories from your weekend…got any great pictures? We’d love to see–upload your photos to our wall!”

Fan: “I spent Friday night on the phone with a great friend having great conversation and drinking great vodka.”

The Vodka: “Catching up with friends is always the best! It’s amazing how much difference a phone call can make “

So, if I’m a fan, who am I actually having this conversation with? Talking Vodka? Perhaps I have had enough vodka for one sitting. And while it’s nice when a friend encourages you to post photos from your weekend excursion–which may or may not have included Talking Vodka–it’s creepy for an alcoholic beverage to encourage people to post photos. Repeatedly.

As a writer who takes my craft seriously and as a real person who has heard millions of conversations, this one simply doesn’t ring true. It sounds generic and contrived. It sounds like a Hallmark commercial. It sounds like someone trying to promote Talking Vodka.

Solution: Sign a person’s name after a response. Create strong conversation starters. And be careful how many times you ask for something from your fans, especially photos. It looks desperate and depending upon your product, creepy.

2. Post Only Narcissistic Updates. If your page is filled with updates that are all about you you you with few to no comments or other interaction, you don’t care what your fans think or have to say. You’re not having a conversation, you’re pushing out information.

If your strategy is to use your page as a recruiting tool, well, OK. But check out the difference between this technology company and Hyatt. Hyatt answers every question posted on their wall. It’s very interactive and immediate. It took the technology company four days to finally reply to an intern’s question about hiring for 2011.

What’s worse is when you see this type of fan page with HootSuite icons next to every update and no interaction. My instant reaction is, all they care about is measuring how many people clicked, they don’t care about me. Where’s the love?

Solution: Reply to your fans often and quickly. Create opportunities for conversation and interaction, don’t do all the talking yourself. And if you use Hootsuite, use it for critical updates and post some the old-fashioned way so you don’t look like a metrics whore.

3. Write with No Voice. Many posts are being written in a generic, flat style–there is no voice, personality or life behind the words. Think of the Talking Vodka. Or the Terminator.

How to explain voice…close your eyes and hear a loved one’s voice. How do you it’s your mother or your brother or your best friend or your child? Each voice is different and unique. You can picture a real person behind the words with your eyes closed. That’s the magical quality called voice.

Solution: Read Facebook fan pages to find writing styles you like. What are they doing that you’re not? Hire a professional writer to have the conversations for you. Or do what writers do: listen to dialogue in your daily life, at the store, in the checkout line, at the kids’ baseball game. Real dialogue rings true whether it’s on the page, on the web or in the line outside the pub bathroom.

Like my mom always said, “It’s not what people say, it’s how they say it.” One group that always hits the right notes is Social Media Examiner. Every post is about something useful or engaging us in conversation. So when they promote an event, I don’t mind. The conversation feels balanced.

So what’s the best or worst Facebook fan page conversation you’ve seen, heard or joined in and why?

I Got Pressed! Ode to WordPress “Freshly Pressed” Fairy Dust

Published September 15, 2010 Copywriting , Creative Life , Freelance Writing , Fun , poems , Social Media , Work Life 8 Comments
Tags: blogging, Freshly Pressed, how to get Freshly Pressed, Joy Victory, wordpress, writing for Freshly Pressed

it was just another morning
in the house of Miles
with cries of
“Pack your lunches!”
“Make your beds!”
as I frantically spell checked and sent
that fateful blog post
and hustled out to start the day

that’s the life of a blogger
posting by day, writing by night
write write write
tag tag tag
photo search…this one? no, that one. no, haha!! that’s hilarious
but no
slumped in bed with my mistress laptop
turning up Nightline to tune out hubby’s snores
the things we do for the love of words

So when i arrived at work, i thought
let’s check those cheeky stats
see if anyone heard my tree
falling in the forest
lo and behold
imagine my surprise
there, in front of my eyes
the page view stats said “159″

I backed away from the computer
in my wheeled office chair
how could this be? was i being punked?
I peeked out from my cubicle
there was only the quiet clicking of keyboards in reply
I rolled back to the stats and clicked refresh
now it was 178
and rising

something was amiss
could it be that my post had been chosen
to be on that venerable page
of which bloggers barely dare to dream?
was it…could it be…I’d been Freshly Pressed?

I looked and there it was
The Day the Webmaster Died
looking clean and sparkly
right there on Freshly Pressed

I died
I went blogger’s heaven
lovely Joy Joy Joy, you editorial czar you
took my lowly words and exposed them to the light of day
sprinkling your magic fairy dust on me
and thousands of readers came
to read a few words by little old sarcastic me

by saturday, my joy increased
I was still there! Another reprieve!
Sunday came and I was Pressed for yet another day
then panic set in
people are actually READING my words
did I say anything I regret?
did I look like an idiot?
(what else is new)
oh well, too late now
it can’t be undone
that bell’s been rung

by Monday morning, there were more readers still
and then
by ten
my Freshly Pressed adventure
came to an end
I still have the likes and subscribers and comments
to prove that it’s all true, every word
I was there, with the best of the best
I was blessed
I was Freshly Pressed

Got a BS in Twitter? Why you need one.

Published July 21, 2010 Business , Copywriting , Marketing , Social Commentary , Social Media 2 Comments
Tags: Facebook, Facebook marketing, keeping up with social media, social media for business, Twitter, Twitter marketing, writing for social media

The other day, a friend who is not in the marketing business asked me if I felt like I had to do Facebook and Twitter. “Do you feel like you have to do it to keep up with the kids graduating college?”

I laughed, imagining college graduates tossing their caps in the air and clutching shiny diplomas for a “BS in Twitter.” (Don’t we all have one of those in something, wink-nudge.) While I have no doubt that colleges are incorporating social media into their marketing curriculum, I didn’t dive into social media for the FUD factor.

I was curious.

Join the party! Drink the Kool-Aid! Update your status!
I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. I knew nothing about the world where many of my younger co-workers were hanging out. It seemed like a big party and I was left out. I didn’t even think about using it for business at first, let alone how businesses and my clients could use it to promote their business. That came soon enough. But it was never about trying to keep up with other people–it was about keeping up with technology.

Technology changes fast, and that impacts every industry. Technology can replace people, jobs, factories, whole towns. If you don’t stay on top of it, you can’t see the changes ahead and how it will impact your industry, whether that’s marketing or manufacturing or dog grooming. Already people are talking about Facebook fatigue. The market is saturated: everyone who wants to join Facebook pretty much has. So now inquiring minds want to know: Continue reading ‘Got a BS in Twitter? Why you need one.’

What social media marketing and tattoos have in common

Published May 12, 2010 Marketing , Social Media Leave a Comment
Tags: blogs, Facebook for business, HootSuite, linkedin, new challenges, online marketing, social media marketing, tattoos, Twitter for business

Recently, I was assisting a nonprofit group with their marketing program. In hushed tones, they asked if I knew anything about Facebook and Twitter. These ladies are all very nice mostly stay-at-home moms who are working hard on a worthy cause, and many of them had faced countless hurdles in their lives (one woman’s house had recently burned to the ground), yet at the mere mention of social media, they looked frightened.

When I asked if they wanted to start a Facebook group, they exchanged nervous glances around the table as if I had asked them to go streaking down Main Street in Downers Grove. And get tattoos afterward. There was a long, awkward pause, until finally the president squeaked out, “Let’s do it!” Translated: What did we just do? She looked skeptical, hopeful and worried. Social media marketing has that effect on a lot people—much like tattoos and streaking down Main Street.

I would know, because Continue reading ‘What social media marketing and tattoos have in common’

Archive for the 'Social Media' Category

read more

Archives

Follow “riverboxx”