If you’re going to tweet from a conference..10 things I want from you.

Posted on February 23, 2009 by marc meyer

I just read a guest post by Olivia Mitchell titled How to present while people are Twittering and it was very informative. but the following struck a nerve for me:

6. You don’t have to be physically present to participate Not only can you watch a live videostream of the presentation, but you can also tweet or chat with the physically-present participants.

I get this. There’s the back channel where people are tweeting like mad during the presentation and using hash tags to do so and supposedly that’s as much for the benefit of the people that are physically present as for those that are not. Though I have a feeling those that are not there are for the most part being completely ignored.

But here’s the odd thing. I can’t tell you how many times I get anywhere from 10-20 people at the same conference tweeting the exact same thing, repeating it word for word, and that’s very cool. I know not all of them have the same followers, so it might be fresh for each of their constituents but that tells me something. They are tweeting for your benefit and not for the benefit of the back channel. Why would they repeat what they heard to people that are present in the room?

With that being said then, if you’re going to repeat and tweet for your followers then you need to know more about your audience, right? Or at least frame the scene for them..set it up, give it context. Perfect case in point is SXSW, its coming up and you may be tweeting from there and sharing some awesome presentations. Common marketing sense bubbling up here, yea?

So here’s 10 quick tips I thought of for those who plan on Tweeting from a conference for the benefit of their followers.

1) Add or create a hashtag from the get go. Simply put, a hashtag in twitter parlance, is how things are tracked and followed on Twitter, here’s a more formal explanation. Usually these are predetermined, but nothing worse then someone spouting some heady philosophy on social media and you have no clue as to what generated the thought.

2) There’s an assumption that you are tweeting to people that are hinged on your every tweet. That’s not entirely true. So don’t act like it. Don’t forget this is a 2 way deal.

3) You need to assume that maybe we might want to respond back. Allow for it. You are not a court reporter.

4) What do you want from us? We might just tell you. You could ask.

5) Why are you doing it? For who’s benefit? Let’s make this a mutually beneficial experience.

6) You really need to allow the people who are reading your tweets, from the conference you are attending, to question your tweets/or their origin. Why?

7) Because you thought they were worthy enough to be tweeted in the first place, right? Engage the non-attendees as well.

8) How about framing the speaker, the forum and the topic for your readers? What are you hoping to learn/ and tell us in 140 characters or less!

9) You may have 300-900-1500 or whatever number of followers, but understand that not all of them are on and following you at the moment that you are tweeting. This rule might be different for those whose followers number in the thousands.

10) Instead of just repeating what you’re hearing, frame an opinion on what you just heard. I know I do. I want to challenge and think out loud. You have just as much capacity to do the same as they do. But share it with us. and perhaps you are in the back channel, but lets not forget about your “other readers”.

I’m not saying that a lot of notable Twitter do not does this already but more and more people are starting to Tweet at conferences, and believe it or not they may not know why or for who or how. As Twitter grows, so will your number of followers obviously, and as well, not all of them will have the capacity and resources to attend some of the bigger conferences in other cities. But they will certainly benefit from you being there and from your tweets if you aknowledge and utilize your followers as a resource and ally as well while you attend.

Transparency-Where are you drawing the line?

Posted on February 20, 2009 by marc meyer

Susan (Kang) Nam, aka @pinkolivefamily in Twitter asked the following question late today on Twitter: Point of transparency = where do u draw ur line? I said, The line has been drawn in the sand. It’s changing fast. Don’t believe me? Read David Armano’s latest post.

Social Media is the Platform for Bad Relationships too…

Posted on February 16, 2009 by marc meyer

There are people out there, that don’t like you. I know, shocking isn’t it? For some of you, it might be. In social media we talk about, and write even more about how social media creates these magical relationships of synergy, business alliances, and friendships. But what people rarely talk about, are the relationships that have originated from social networking-that have gone sour.

On the Today Show recently they did a segment about “friending” people on Facebook. And you don’t have to look too hard to find blog posts about people who have written about breaking up via Facebook.

As you should know by now, relationships that are played out through social media channels take on another dynamic. There are many layers. The most prominent layer now being that all aspects of it, are out there for all to see. Warts and all. Sometimes I wonder if part of us wants everyone else to see whats going on. Of course we can “choose” to make it or take it private, but a lot of us don’t. We want others, should things take a turn for the worse, to participate in the drama. We want people to choose sides.

What I’m talking about above are truly personal relationships. But what of.. the business relationships that have occurred from social networking? Or the blossoming relationship? What are the business rules for that? What if your paths cross with many of the same people and your relationship with one of them has just turned sour? What do you do?

How are you going to play it?

Better start thinking about it.

I know I am, because it’s happening to me.

3 Quick-n-easy ways SMB’s can start listening right now

Posted on February 6, 2009 by marc meyer

Inspired by David Alston’s (of Radian 6) marvelous interview on Blog Talk Radio I thought perhaps I could provide, 3 Quick and Easy ways an SMB could start listening online to what’s going on in their space right now, and it will cost them nothing! So let’s do this!

1) On LinkedIn, there’s an application called Company Buzz which lets you tap into this information flow to find relevant trends and comments about your company. You can install the application and instantly see what people are saying. You can customize and topics and add new ones to watch.You can see historical charts to track buzz over time and you can get the top words associated with your topic and quickly drill into see related tweets. There is of course an assumption here that you have created a LinkedIn account. If you have not, do that first.

2) Google Alerts I can’t say it any better than Google here, so let me quote them:

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

Some handy uses of Google Alerts include:

monitoring a developing news story

keeping current on a competitor or industry

getting the latest on a celebrity or event

keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams

The interface is simple, even more-so to set up and you are ready to go!

3) I know you have probably heard of Twitter, but one way to dip the toe in the water to see what the buzz is about, is by listening first. You can do this by developing searches that speak to your search terms, industry, company, you etc. Twitter Search helps you filter all the real-time information coursing through their platform. Which is, undeniably, a lot!

You can even take it to the next level by crafting your searches using their many advanced search operators, and you can also use the advanced search page to easily incorporate search operators into your queries.

Boom. That’s it. You have just set up 3 ways to start listening and it may not even have taken you an hour. Got another that takes less time and is free? Share it!

The Virtual Street Cred of Twitter

Posted on January 24, 2009 by marc meyer

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about virtual credibility. I guess because a lot of the people that follow me on Twitter have some interesting bios. Some that would have you thinking or believing, “wow this person is impressive.” They say they do this and they have x amount of followers etc. etc.

Simply put, at some point your bio, your connections and the number of followers you have are going to mean nothing unless you can back it up with true hands on experience and knowledge. I will venture to say though, that you can learn a lot about someone via 140 characters or less. Consider that the ice breaker or the get to know someone phase if you will. And you know what? It can become pretty obvious after awhile, when actually talking to someone whether they have the “chops” or not. That’s the difference between virtual credibility and “virtual street cred.”

“Virtual Street Cred”

I could refer you to the urban dictionary for the loosely defined version of “street cred” but attaching the word “virtual” to it simply means that it’s one thing to talk it in the virtual space that is the blogosphere or Twitter, but it’s a whole nuther’ thing to walk it.

So yesterday I tweeted that I was thinking about virtual credibility, when Rachel Happe, whose views and opinion I respect very much, asked the following question:

Is “virtual credibility” like virtual currency…it’s not really money but it looks like it on the internet? 🙂

Bingo! So, over the past few months, I’ve been having actual conversations with people I’ve gotten to know from Twitter. This is significant on a number of levels. Not the least of which is the virtual relationship has become something other than “tweeting” back and forth. Another significant aspect, is that before Twitter, I might have still been able to talk to people in the marketing, social media, PR and decision maker space but…It would have taken perhaps a cold call or semi-warm one at best to engage them. And many more to get to some type of comfort level.

Twitter has allowed us ways to create amazing relationships and opportunities at a rapid rate. Prior to Twitter we would have had to work twice as hard to get to know each other. As Brian Solis puts it in his most recent post:

As Twitter gains in relevance and prominence, its conversation platform will ring the alarms of any business that monetizes relationships, connections, and information exchange

From Twitter I’ve received opportunities to work on projects. I’ve also, on a daily basis been privy to a massive stable of talent that I can refer to for help, perspective, resources, advice, knowledge, expertise, partnerships and wisdom and most of all friendship. I have gotten to know people from so many diverse backgrounds that would have never happened otherwise. The majority of these people are a mere DM away. That is an amazing aspect that is not overlooked by me. Some of these people now have, in my eyes attained.

“Virtual Street Cred”

In the comments section of a post by Radian 6’s Amber Naslund, Marketer Beth Harte says the following.

I used to think Twitter was silly (hated it really), but now, it’s invaluable. All those tweets really build a character of the people you interact with. And then when you meet them in person, it’s like you already know them well and you can move past the ‘getting to know you’ phase into a deeper relationship. Imagine that from a business perspective…wow!

I feel that way too.

How about you? What has happened to you since you’ve embarked on Twitter? Good, bad, or indifferent?

Time to view social media differently

Posted on January 14, 2009 by marc meyer

Last night I could not help but pause and think after every sentence of Peter Kim’s most recent blog post. Even more compelling were the comments that followed. I’d suggest you read it. Because of this and because I had been thinking that it was time to change the way I viewed and written about what I have experienced in marketing and social media marketing, I have decided to turn it upside down.

I want you to start thinking like that now. Instead of repeating everything that you read and just slapping a new title on it and linking to everyone else. Give me your thoughts with perhaps just one or two links. Forget about link juice for a minute and write what you really think about Twitter- Does Twitter piss you off? Are you tired of bullshit tweets? Well tell me. Don’t like what Chris Brogan says? Then say it. I’m not asking you to completely look for the flaws and problems in everyone and everything, I’m asking you to step outside of that and look at things from 3 feet instead of 30,000 feet, and then give me your real thoughts and your perspective. If I’m full of it? Fine, tell me why, and if it makes sense then I will adjust.

It’s time for our discussions and our thoughts to be elevated. I would think that now might be a really opportune time for fresh thinking, what do you think? And for the record, Peter I may be echoing what you have just written but the more people that can spread that sentiment of less echo and more thought, the better.

Twitter and the lack of context

Posted on January 9, 2009 by marc meyer

Context

(kŏn‘tĕkst‘) n.

The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.
The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting

For the longest time one of the reasons that I loved Twitter so much was the free flow exchange of thoughts, ideas and opinions that occurred in a staccato like fashion. Recently, this has come back to bite me in the ass and has me completely changing my tune. Why? Well for a number of reasons, not the least of which I now feel I have to watch what I say, when I say it, how I say it, and the “context” in which I say “anything” on Twitter. Sure, we have to do that all the time anyway right? But in the Twitterverse, part of it’s charm is the fact that there are a lot of free flowing streams of consciousness that you can wade into. Problem is, the water goes from 3 feet to 12 feet really quick.

Before I had decided to write this post I already had a couple of really good examples of this simmering topic brought to my attention. Not the least of which was my own. My “trouble” started when I essentially was voicing my opinion on a topic with someone I admired very much and whose opinion and knowledge I valued. To sum it up, I was rebuked and my opinion was dismissed in a way where I had figuratively checked the mirror to see if my nose was bleeding. I took it personally.

So having thought that I perhaps did something wrong, I tried to “correct” the situation by asking if I had said or done something wrong and if I did, I did not mean it. I had apologized. I even went and looked back on my tweets, searching for the hidden meaning and “context” and wondering, where was context lost. In the meantime, No response. I tried to engage that person in another conversation or exchange on Twitter. Nothing. I apologized again. Nothing. I apologized one more time, for fear of losing this person’s virtual friendship and nothing. Wow..Twitter sucks. No it doesn’t. Lack of context does.

You see 2 things collided. I misinterpreted some tweets, I assumed our perceived Twitter relationship allowed me to voice such an opinion and it obviously didn’t. That was mistake #1 and #2, was that person did not hear the tone, inflection and “the way” I was voicing my opinion. All lost in 140 characters. I said I was sorry and it obviously was not enough. That part was disconcerting to say the least.

Daria Steigman a communications strategist from DC wrote a fantastic post titled “Context and the Twitter echo chamber”, in which she pondered the following,”

Have you ever deleted a tweet because you were afraid it might be taken out of context? I did, and I’m not sure I made the right decision.

Wow, Daria has not been on Twitter that long, but she still feels the need already to self censor and question what she is about to tweet for fear of the context that it might be taken in. I know, you’re probably saying, “Well shouldn’t everyone”? Yes and no. We should definitely think before talking or tweeting, but we should also not censor what we think or feel strongly about for fear about what others might think or interpret or misconstrue in regards to its context.

Context is a fickle thing. Twitter notwithstanding, in the online world, it rears it’s ugly head regularly in chat, IM, or e-mail. We are not privy to tone, inflection, or circumstance, and on Twitter this is magnified as brightly as a self serving tweet from Guy Kawasaki. Om Malik has written that to a certain degree, Twitter only enhanced an already chaotic scene in Mumbai. He was having difficulty assigning proper context to the vast amount of tweets and retweets, assumptions and speculation that were coming in from Twitter. It made the situation worse for him and he wondered, how does one make sense of the torrent of information?

I think you make sense by having direct communication with an individual, if possible, if there is a problem. I’m learning that I do have to watch what I say. The more people that follow you the more your thoughts and words can be misconstrued. For awhile I thought, is it me? Am I the only one experiencing this? Maybe not. I asked marketer Beth Harte, who frequently writes about the subtle nuances that are Twitter, what she thought about Twitter and context..

I have had tons of tweets misunderstood or misconstrued Why? Because the tweets aren’t threaded. As well, when people join in the conversation, you can’t always see when or at what point they jumped in. And sometimes two people who were part of your conversation, start having their own, on their own- and you can’t see that always either. There’s a lot that is lost

Boom. There’s a lot lost. I was talking to community manager Sonny Gill that it’s sort of like going up to two people in a bar who are facing each other and obviously having a conversation and you step right in the middle and just comment on what the other person just said.

Sonny’s thoughts were interesting, he stated:

I think IF we watch what we say, we’re gonna end up taking a step back, individually and in the industry. Don’t believe we need to watch our step when we tweet.

So the question begs: Do we start to watch what we say or do we just let it fly? Rae Hoffman who has a very popular blog and and an even better Twit Stream, will fully admit as much that her tweets are not for the sqeamish and tweets “to follow if you dare”. Transparency.

Liz Strauss, whose opinions and thoughts I respect as much as anyone in the space, and who truly has the ability to bring thinking, clarity, insight, and understanding to almost any topic, adds this:

People don’t yet understand the “social” in social media means that they are dealing with real relationships with real people and real business relationships at the same time. This crossover of business and personal is revolutionary and more “small town” than corporate. It requires individual maturity — an ability to be personally invested with out taking things personally.

She goes on to say that:

Threaded conversation could very well make it worse. … because they will make the issues / slights / social miscues harder to walk away from and easier for the larger group to see

Liz couldn’t be more accurate. A lot of us, myself included, have blurred the lines of what we truly use Twitter for. Is it a tool, is it personal, is it for business? Is it all of the above? Maybe, just maybe that’s where the loss of context can occur? We have so many conversations going on in so many streams, or we insert ourselves into so many streams, that we lose the context of each one, because each is different, but we charge forward anyway, blindly into the conversational abyss of someones tweets. So what to do about it?

Paul Chaney, Director of Internet Marketing for Bizzuka who writes a killer blog and knows 15 do’s and don’ts about Twitter has this thought:

It’s difficult, if not nigh impossible, to convey context via a text-only medium, particularly one that only allows 140 characters.
Thats another reason video will become more of a standard form of interpersonal online communication. You can see and hear the person’s actual intent, tonal inflections, facial expression.

I think that once a conversation begins to get out of hand it’s time to take it to email for further explanation, or even a phone call to smooth ruffled feathers. Saying “I’m sorry” always goes a long way too

Paul always has a way to bring levity and sage wisdom to a situation or a conversation. Perhaps what is truly needed in conversations where context is lost, is an effort on both parties to clear up the misunderstanding through perhaps a more effective means of communication that does not involve 140 characters.

In the end, there will be more and more instances of context lost as Twitter continues to scale. Most will shrug it off, some will take it personal and some will it work it out but as Liz Strauss adds,

At the moment I take heart in the fact that tweets die quickly … they are, however, discoverable in court.

Lastly, It’s only a matter of time for something like what Liz has mentioned to happen and to that point a chiropractor is suing a Yelp user over negative reviews. Context anyone?

So I ask you esteemed readers, Do we need to watch what you say? Do we need to start policing our own tweets? Have your tweets ever been taken out of context? If so, what did you do or not do about the situation?

Jerry doesn’t get it.

Posted on December 6, 2008 by marc meyer

Social Media Today principal Jerry Bowles last week wrote a post called Twitter is for birdbrains I read and said to myself, “he’s kidding right?” I guess he wasn’t. The problem with Jerry’s post was that he runs a site that has the tag line- The Web’s best thinkers on social media and web 2.0. This post would not comprise some of the “best” thinking associated with the site. If anything it comes off as the man who walks around with a shot gun and keeps yelling at the kids to get off of his property. Or the guy in the old Scooby -Doo cartoons, who says, “if it wern’t for you meddling kids…” Or the person who can’t stand that new group the Beatles, and doesn’t understand what all the hoopla is..

Go read the post if you haven’t and tell me what you think.

My friend Paul Chaney, whose opinion I respect very much sums it up this way.

This really gets my dander up. Not because you feel so negatively about Twitter (though I think you’re perspective is ill-informed), but because you’re principal of a company whose sites have, according to Robin, several Twitter accounts and runs a Twitterfeed in the sidebar! Jerry, at best that’s hypocrisy and ludicrous at worst. Most certainly incongruous.

It’s as narrow minded, off base, and completely wrong a post that I’ve seen on Social Media Today since I’ve been a contributor. If it was to get a rise and nothing more, then how about letting us in on the joke Jerry. If it wasn’t and you truly believe what you have written- then maybe you might want to backtrack and claim that you were doing it just to get attention to the site.

My main complaint? You barely use or have used Twitter, so I’m not sure how you can definitively make the statements or claims that you have. They hold no weight. If it was someone with 500 followers and was following 500 and had 500 tweets, well then maybe I might seriously consider what you said, or at least respect your opinion- but I can’t even do that. I’m trying to understand, really I am. That’s it, I’m out.

Twitter is killing my blog

Posted on December 4, 2008 by marc meyer

I just read a tweet, yep that’s right a tweet in which David Armano pondered whether Adam Kmiec’s blog post about the quality and frequency of some notable bloggers is diminshing because of Twitter… is true.

Kmiec mentions that not only Armano, but Peter Kim and Joseph Jaffe are guilty as well of producing substandard quality and quantity. I say he’s right. And though I’m not on the same level as those guys, I see it happening to me as well.

The proof:

David Armano yesterday penned, The world’s shortest blog entry

Joseph Jaffe recently wrote the post titled, “Who gives a shit about toilet paper?”

I’m not using David and Joseph as the poster children here, Adam already did, but I did think it was funny to look at their most recent blog posts. I liked both, but there was some delicious irony in it all. I know there are lots more of us twitter/bloggers out there whose craft might be suffering because of Twitter; and I can without a doubt tell you that I have tweeted wasted? some great blog post topics which have then transformed into some great twitter conversations. My posts are becoming shorter. Any coincidence? They’re becoming more rant-like. I feel like I’m mailing it in some time. Or maybe because there are so many good conversations going on, on Twitter, all the good stuff is being said in real time and doesn’t need to be elaborated on? I’m speculating, but you get the point.

So what happens?

The digital footprint isn’t the same as if it were a blog post. It’s there, sort of, but for the most part it is gone. I’m not sure how to strike the happy medium because I like both worlds. But my blog is suffering.

Thoughts?

What has been your “Ah-Ha” moment for 2008?

Posted on November 28, 2008 by marc meyer

As we fall forward and 2009 approaches, I was reading a blog post in which the reader talked about her Ah-Ha moment in twitter and I started thinking about what was my “Ah-Ha” moment for 2008. Was it a connection? Was it one of those seminal moments with a client? A conversation? A conference? An e-mail? A tweet? A blog post that took the conversation to another level?

I’m curious as to what it might have been for you.

Given that 2008 might have been lean for some on certain levels, I’m sure you can still point to some thing or some moment in 2008 that might have either helped make the light bulb above your head brighter or just enriched you on a level that you never thought possible. What was it?

I’ve had many moments that were game changers this year but the one that stands out is the effect that Twitter has had on me professionally. In short, not only has it allowed me to connect with my peers but it has connected me to information and resources quicker than if I would have done the search myself. It has kept me dialed in to what matters in my industry and from a networking standpoint, there is no comparison. So to the 500 or so people that I follow, I want to thank you for providing me with my “Ah-Ha” moment in 2008.