Microsoft Jumps Head-First into Social Media

There is a new era about to embark at Microsoft worldwide.

The new 82-member social media innovation team, dubbed FUSE (FUture Social Experiences), is set to begin sending some serious waves through the company's software development. Conceptualized and assembled by Ray Ozzie, Micro's Chief Software Architect, the FUSE team is expected to begin applying social media capabilities into PCs and business products.

The implications of this move could have an enormous impact on the public's daily computing, indicating that social media is becoming less of a learned process and more of a traditional 21st century lifestyle. Early adopters will be a driving force.

Ozzie cites high-bandwidth internet, both wired and wireless, the wide availability of digital camera phones and 'app-capable' phones, etc. as obvious justification for the team's dedicated purpose. Internet-connected game consoles and TVs are part of the equation as well. Social movies and programming have already been available, although not mainstream, for the past year or so.

The marketing team at Microsoft formally acknowledges that social media has transcended "communication and collaboration" and directly affects product experiences and consumer behavior. An important point to emphasize with slow-adopting clients.

Some of you may already be familiar with the rumored LookingGlass product, which is Microsoft's prototype for social media business software. It is unclear if LookingGlass is the front-runner of the new FUSE team, but it is very likely there is a connection. Click here for the original FUSE article.

Happy tweeting, everyone.

FCC socializes it's broadband launch

This week, the Federal Communications Commission decided that social media was a key component to it's submission of a plan for national broadband access. Ever since the United States figured out that it is trailing behind the rest of the civilized world in public broadband, this issue has been hot on the keyboards of programmers and politicians. Given the inherently heated debate that has been stirring, why did the FCC choose to integrate social media into their development stage?

"We want it to be a two-way conversation. The feedback, ideas and discussions generated on thsi blog will be critical in developing the best possible National Broadband Plan," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachoswki. Please note that he took office in June of this year.

I am most looking forward to see which comments and "feedback" are censored. Let the transparency war begin! Here is a quick look at what has been posted since the campaign launch on Tuesday:

Click here to follow the FCC

To be honest, I am more than a little disappointed with their "engaging" tactics. Nearly every post begins with "Broadband Update:" and redundantly links back to it's own general web address. If I wanted to read repeated advertisements to visit their web page, I would add it to my RSS feed.

A quick look at the replies to the FCC account reveals similar feelings among new followers. It seems as though Chairman Genachoswki needs to do a better job executing the "two-way conversation" he has proclaimed.

The "Blogband" blog, however, is performing much better. It only has four posts and is two days old, but has received nearly 100 comments with undoubtedly heavy web traffic. Like most successful blogs, Blogband is collaboratively maintained by the FCC internal team (including posts from the Chairman). It is still too early to tell how much the social media outlets will affect the ultimate decisions of the FCC for initiating national broadband. Despite it being in its early stages, I have great appreciation for the fact that they have created social modes for input from the American public.

The question now becomes whether the FCC will actually begin responding to its feedback publicly. Please comment or send me an email at pauljmatson (at) gmail (dot) com. Cheers!

Twitter is down! Social media Twouble

Microblog service Twitter has officially been down since around 10:00 a.m. today, preventing the tweets of millions of users around the globe. The official Twitter Status blog has published the following update:

Defending against a denial-of-service attack?! Let the battle begin! Time to summon the all-mighty Fail Whale to wage war against the cyber foes. Fortunately, the federal government has the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team to step in if needed.

So what exactly is a denial-of-service (DoS) attack? According to US-CERT:

---

In a denial-of-service (DoS) attack, an attacker attempts to prevent legitimate users from accessing information or services. By targeting your computer and its network connection, or the computers and network of the sites you are trying to use, an attacker may be able to prevent you from accessing email, web sites, online accounts (banking, etc.), or other services that rely on the affected computer.

The most common and obvious type of DoS attack occurs when an attacker "floods" a network with information. When you type a URL for a particular web site into your browser, you are sending a request to that site's computer server to view the page. The server can only process a certain number of requests at once, so if an attacker overloads the server with requests, it can't process your request. This is a "denial of service" because you can't access that site.

An attacker can use spam email messages to launch a similar attack on your email account. Whether you have an email account supplied by your employer or one available through a free service such as Yahoo or Hotmail, you are assigned a specific quota, which limits the amount of data you can have in your account at any given time. By sending many, or large, email messages to the account, an attacker can consume your quota, preventing you from receiving legitimate messages.

---

If you are already shaking from the inability to access your home page, calm down. Although this is a longer downtime than Twitter has experienced for a year or so, it has happened before. The larger the Twitter network becomes, the more computers get involved, the more likely an attack of this nature becomes. For a more in-depth explanation of this situation and how it is orchestrated by hackers, click here.

The question is this: what do we do when a major social media service breaks down for an extended period of time? What will be an interesting case study is to examine where people are turning in the wake of Twitter failure. Facebook is my first guess. Other ideas welcome!

Designers are not developers

This (somewhat) crass post showed up in my Delicious feed, but think it is worth sharing. There is often a discrepancy over what skills people have in social media vs. digital marketing vs. web design. Naturally, today's PR and ad agencies want to have team members with a diversity of skills and specialty in a few. Few are able to differentiate the actual differences between each skill set.

A "concerned web developer" decided to publish this note contribute his insight (there is a lack of grammatical accuracy, but hits several important nails on the head):

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Poster of Job Ads,
For the record, nobody knows PHP, .NET, MYSQL, HTML, FLASH, CSS, JAVASCRIPT, ILLUSTRATOR, and PHOTOSHOP. If a potential emplotee says they do, they know a little of each and are of no real value. If they do indeed appear to be an expert with all of these, then they have no life. If you want someone of real skill -- you need to break down your job ads like so:

[PHP goes with MYSQL]
[.NET goes with SQL]
[HTML goes with CSS and maybe JavaScript]
[ILLUSTRATOR goes with PHOTOSHOP and FLASH]

...futhermore, there are two major spheres here that often get blurred into one..

web DESIGNER and web DEVELOPER.

A designer can also be a GRAPHIC designer -- these people are artists and can use Illustrator, Flash, and Photoshop.

A web developer knows how to code, web developers are NOT artists! -- If your potential employee claims to be a senior web developer and also a graphic designer, they are LYING.

A concerned...
web DEVELOPER

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can find the original post here.

The numbers game: Real relationships in social media

Mobile Media: Wherever I go, you come too

A key component of successful social media networking, marketing and sharing is the ability to access the social web at critical times. The technological advancement of smartphones and wireless providers have enabled consumers to get on the Internet virtually anywhere at any time. I am not suggesting that one stays constantly connected. Instead, mobile accessibility has unchained us from our computers. Everyone is now able to explore the world while utilizing critical elements of the social web.

Flipcams, cell phones and mobile-optimized web sites are now available in the mainstream market. In many ways, this has helped exponentially increase the amount of up-to-the-moment information available. We can now upload text to our blogs, pictures to Flickr, and videos to YouTube while remaining copmletely wireless. For businesses seeking to engage their target audience, this is an opportunity to get real-time feedback on anything from product reviews to onsite experiences.

Below is a picture re-cap of a recent bike ride I took through downtown Columbus. Most of these were taken with a cell phone, which I was able to upload to Flickr as I rode. By the time I arrived home after two hours of riding, there were only a few photos left to finish posting. Without this capability, it is unlikely that I would have shared this experience at the rate that it became available.

The ultimate search engine

For anyone familiar with the Internet, Google has long since transcended into being a household name. An estimated 235 million searches are performed each day on the Google search engine, which accounts for roughly 72% of searches performed across the web. Even when one uses alternate search engines, it is still commonly referred to as "Googling." Imagine how copy machine companies must have felt when Xerox began dominating the market (i.e. "Xerox that paper" instead of "copy that paper")

Talk about brand power.

Amid the countless number of self-proclaimed "SEO gurus," there are very few people that truly understand the complex, evolving algorithms of search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. As the abyss of information available on the web continues to expand, we rely heavily on these sites to navigate efficiently.

Multitudes of search engines continue to be developed to help deliver more targeted results (Google alone offers separate engines for blogs, patents, images, etc.) Online training even exists to teach people how to enter key terms more effectively, much like I was taught as a child to use the library's first "digital card catalog."

Instead of listing the "Top 100 Search Engines" or some other shoddy compilation of sites you will only visit once, here are two bookmark-worthy ways I guarantee will make your daily searching through social media and the web more efficient.

1. Google Custom Search
Take control. This is a simple tool that enables you to literally build your own search engine (no, you do not need a PhD in computer engineering... even a kid in elementary school could pull this off). The key element is an ability to narrow or emphasize the reach of your search engine based on preferred blogs, commercial sites, news sources, and so on. First, this means importing a list of your chosen sites into a database. You can then choose whether to search within those sites exclusively or with them simply emphasized in a normal search.

Once the engine criteria is saved, you can embed it on your web site and share it with others. This is incredibly useful for brand monitoring or simply easing the tediousness of clicking through page upon page of search results.

Who has that kind of time?

If you have no idea what type of search engine you want to create, visit this directory of topic-based search engines. For example, if you are only interested in the online content of high traffic "mommy bloggers," there is a search engine that exclusively searches the top 1,500 mommy blogs. Of course, there are plenty other topics from which to choose.



2. Addict-o-matic
Social media searching at a glance. This is a web-based tool which enables you to enter a key term into multiple social media search platforms simultaneously. As far as I have found, this is the most inexpensive (free) and fastest way to search several social media engines at once and compare results.


This site also allows you to add or remove the various platforms based on your preference and change their location on the dashboard. Featured engines include Google blog search, Twitter search, FriendFeed, News, Delicious and Digg, Flickr, Technorati, and many more.

Give each a shot and leave a comment. Cheers!

Chicago social media adventure

This weekend, March 5-8, the PRSSA chapter from Ohio University will be traveling to Chicago to tour six major agencies and attend a networking dinner. Many students participating have only just begun venturing into social media networking on the professional level. You can track our progress by visiting here. If you wish to communicate with the group, please use the Twitter hashtag #ouchi09. We would love to hear any and all advice/comments/encouragement as we explore Chicago together.

The chapter has been split into two smaller groups so that each can visit three agencies. We have scheduled meetings with the following firms:

* Ketchum
* Fleishman-Hillard
* Ogilvy
* Edelman
* Ruder Finn
* Weber Shandwick

If you wish to meet with us at the Hard Rock Cafe on Friday evening, please send me a DM @PaulMatson or @ScrippsPRSSA. In addition, several members of the chapter will be taking footage of their experience which is being compiled into a YouTube video. If you are in the area, we would love to have you featured as well.

Thank you to everyone who has assisted in putting this trip together. In short, this explains my absence from posting the past few weeks. Upon our return, I will be able to resume my normal posting schedule. I will also be guest blogging on PRofessional Development next week with CMU's Rachel Esterline.

Cheers!

You are always welcome to leave a comment or send me an email at pauljmatson (at) gmail (dot) com.

10 ways to get the news using social media

If you have ever found yourself wondering how some people seem to know about every new technological development, current event, or even helpful obscure facts, this is how they do it.

The transition from traditional news media to social news media is well underway. Even the 500lb gorillas Tribune Co. and the New York Times are struggling to turn a profit. The Tribune has already filed for Chapter 11 protection and the Times is not far behind. A wave of remorseful nostalgia washes over many loyal readers, but a revolution of news reporting and gathering is happening whether we like it or not.

Despite the short-term turmoil of television, print and radio the revolution of journalism does not mean Armageddon for mainstream media. It is a signal to adapt to the methods already being used widely to obtain information. It is not enough anymore to simply have a news web site that is a reflection of the daily newspaper. Companies and news providers must engage their audiences in unprecedented ways. This is not nearly as difficult as it sounds, but it must be done quickly to stay afloat. Social media is the driving force behind this concept.

Here are 10 easy ways to get the news using social media:

1. Do not stick to one source of news media. Rule #1. CNN, MSNBC, Fox... they are good, but none of them will ever have the whole story or will be able to update you as fast as the following methods all by themselves. This rule applies for any news provider.

2. Use a news aggregator. No joke. Whether you choose to use an RSS feeder or customized homepage, this is must for anyone who uses the Internet. Here is a compiled list of web-based aggregators. If you are not familiar with bloglines or Google Reader, both provide step-by-step instructions on how to get started. Instead of surfing through your favorite online newspapers, blogs and mashup sites, assign them all appear on one homepage. This is one giant step toward maintaining mental sanity amid the inherent chaos of social media sites.

3. Follow news sources on Twitter. I am not just talking about the BBC and CNN. Click here to view a list of news organizations that have Twitter accounts you can follow. If you use TweetDeck, you can have each one you follow only show up in a special column on your screen. Remember that some are automated and others are manually managed.

4. Watch TwitScoop and Tweet clouds. Popular catch phrase terms and hashtags will appear in these tools. The bigger a word becomes in the "scoop" or "cloud," the more people are talking about it. Click on the word, and it will bring you to a site that will list every tweet related to it within the past few hours or days (your choice). Links to sources are often provided in these tweets. This is an unbelievably fast and accurate way to hear about news as it happens.

5. Start using Delicious or Digg. Or both, if you really want to be efficient. Either will provide you with a wealth of news and information you would never find listed on the Wall Street Journal's homepage or hear on NPR. I prefer Delicious. You can view my profile here.

6. Visit Technorati once a week (at least). Simply put, Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. It is a self-submission directory and web crawler which covers around 112.8 million blogs and more than 250 millions pieces of tagged social media.

7. Read and engage with iReport. iReport is a user-generated news site. This means the stories submitted by users are not edited, fact-checked or screened before they post. Some are tagged for usage by CNN. Obviously, I am not arguing that this is 100% reliable, but no news source on Earth is- let this be one more way to cross-reference what you hear.

8. Comment, retweet, and link to your favorite news and online information. Social media news exists because people are choosing to engage with it on a personal level. Return the favor, and the power of citizen journalism and information sharing will continue to grow at an exponential rate. The goal is to continue creating communities of people sharing data to ensure accuracy and comprehensiveness. People will notice what you do and will be inclined to share information with you that you may not have known otherwise.

9. Pay attention to group-generated blogs. There are thousands of sites that are maintained by groups of professionals in their respective industries. This is a reliable way to cut through the bull crap in news reporting and get information from the source. Think of it as cutting out the middle man of translation. Great examples for communications and technology-related fields are AdAge, Mashable and WIRED.

10. Subscribe to text-based updates from your favorite news sources. You can do this either by subscribing to the New York Times (or any other provider) or simply using Twitter. Simple as that. This is especially handy for people who don't want to pay for mobile web-browsing and are frequent travelers.

How to pitch using social media

Whether you are solely a member of Facebook or go on a daily social media 50+ network binge, most people can generally understand the value of having an online profile. The key principle of Social Media is to connect with others (of relevant interest) and to share information not otherwise available through mainstream networks.

On the other side of the coin, however, is the use of social media for businesses and professional reporting. With social media tools, everyone is a reporter - but what about pitching to mainstream media? Since the advent of the Social Media Release (first created Todd Defren at Shift Communications) the evolution of virtual pitching has begun. As the authenticity of online users has increased, so has the number of tools to deliver a message to targeted news sources.

Here is a condensed list of tools I discovered from a Mashable author, Sarah Evans.

1. HARO (Help A Reporter Out) - Founded by Social Media adventurist Peter Shankman, the site has proven to be a highly useful and credible way for reporters and their sources to find each other.

The idea is fairly simple: First, you register as a source or a reporter. As a reporter, you simply submit your query to a distribution list. As a source, you will receive up to three emails a day listing the submitted queries, allowing you to 1) respond to the query directly or 2) refer them to someone who could help. If you are a member of the media, you would be crazy not to give this a shot.

2. Social Media Release Builder - It is difficult enough to learn HTML and XML computer coding, let alone build a SM release from scratch every time one is needed. Don't know what an SM release is? Click here. With a small fee, anyone can build a clean, usable SMR interface.

3. Wikis - If you represent a product or service that frequently appears in press release boilerplates, it's about time you built a wiki page. It's free, fairly simple, and gives reporter an easy resource to learn more about your product or service at any given time.

4. Media People on Twitter - The value of this list is obvious. Currently divided by country. FYI - this list was originally compiled and is maintained on a Wiki page. See the value?

5. Twellow - I recently posted a list of helpful Twitter tools, and this one is certainly one more to be added to the list. If you need find a story idea and people to interview, this is a great place to start. Search Twitter users by category. As opposed to justtweetit.com, Twellow is NOT self-submitted directory, which yields far more comprehensive results.

6. Beat Blogging - Whether you are looking to build a reliable pitch distribution list or learn about new trends from the blogosphere, this should be the first stop.

7. Ning - If I'm not mistaken, this is the same interface used by PROpenMic. The biggest difference between this platform and every other social networking site is that it allows users to create their own community. Fan pages, social networks, etc. are all possible and can be managed virtually for little or no cost.

Think of it as an advanced "Fan Page" on Facebook with a dedicated URL.

Helpful? I hope so. Leave a comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @PaulMatson or twitter.com/paulmatson

7 ways to keep people interested

Rich or poor, there will always be one item everyone needs more: TIME. The inevitable suffocation of email, text messages, voicemails, newspapers, TV have streamlined the methods of communication. For both the everyday consumer and businesses, it is increasingly important to be as concise and relevant as possible in messages to both one another and to target audiences. This concept, of course, is not just relevant to the Social Media guru. It applies to virtually every available avenue of communication delivery.

7 ways to keep people interested in what you have to say:

1. It's not about you. Define your message and stick to it. EXAMPLE: If you wish to be followed on Twitter because you fancy yourself as legitimately knowledgeable in a particular category, 90% of your tweets should be relevant to that concept. A fellow Tweeter may originally chose to follow you because they find the links you post are helpful - not because they want to know your favorite and coffee and "are ready for Friday to be here." Analyzing any social media profile is an easy way to find the narcissists traversing the Earth.

2. Avoid abbreviations. It just makes your message sound amateur. No one wants to take the time to decipher your invented hieroglyphic language of shortened words. Similarly, sEnTeNcEs LiKe tHiS aRe eNdLesSly oBnOxIoUs. If you passed the 8th grade, use proper grammar. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to abbreviate, chances are, there is a more concise way to get your point across.

3. Headlines are king. (particularly in microblogging and texting) Your content may change the course of history, but if the headline is trash, your own mother won't even both reading it. Imagine scrolling down a list of hundreds of headlines all pertaining to the same subject... which link would you care to read? Use that formula for your own headlines.

4. You are not the CNN army of one. Message blasting is ego-tastic. Think of the little boy who cried "wolf". Don't be the little communicator that cried "everything I say is important, because I say so." Screen how much you share. Avoid the self-proclaimed experts, and don't become one. Timely, relevant and succinct messages sell themselves. Throwing up fifty new posts, headlines and press releases an hour will not earn you a big following... much less will it do much for your credibility. Peter Kim makes an excellent point regarding the building and maintaining of relationships through social networks.

5. Your brand is not your alter ego. This ties directly into credibility. If web authority is what you want, don't create a false identity. Be your brand - it's not your turtle shell.

6. Listen, listen, listen, jump in. You must give respect to receive it, but ALWAYS be willing to listen first and speak second. A target audience is a small town and people know immediately if you are new to the area. Don't immediately try to be the life of the party or you will become the new neighbor who wasn't invited to the 4th of July.

7. Expect the expected. Consciously build your brand, or people will do it for you. Contrary to guerrilla marketing, it it can always help to appear where your audience EXPECTS to see you. Call it the gray area of permission marketing.

If you have an insight or thought to share, please feel free to comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Find me on Twitter @PaulMatson.

The Best Twitter Applications

Before you read this entry, consider how you use Twitter. The following information is most useful for the moderate to more advanced user. For a quick background, read the provided links:
- What is Twitter? click here
- What should I Tweet about? click here

Twitter is not only a streamlined method of communication between people, but a way for users to obtain news, ideas and information not previously available. However, finding the right users to follow (aside from your little buddies) can be a difficult task. A short user bio simply does not provide an accurate assessment of who you might want to keep up to date with.

There are thousand different ways to use Twitter to search for topics or relevant information, find users, and manage your own account. If you have not been able to try out at least one of these applications, now is your chance to catch up on more efficient technology! This is your invitation to come out of the Twitter stone age.

To be clear, there are countless applications. These are a few I have found to be some of the best.

Desktop and mobile applications: Stop going to Twitter.com!
1. Twhirl - The most popular and convenient desktop item. Similar to an IM box.
2. Tweetdeck - The most useful and efficient, includes a subject and keyword filter, separating information of interest without staring at the Twitterfeed all day.
3. Twitteriffic - The application for the iPhone and iPod Touch only - download it if you own either!

Search: Only read what actually matters to you.
1. TwitterSearch - Search by username
2. TweetScan - Search by tweet and keywords
3. Twitterverse - See tweets appear on a world map, by location
4. JustTweetIt - New, but is a self-selected submission directory organized by categories

User Information: Wonder what kind of Twitter users people are?
TweetStats - Get the rundown on peak usage times, what people Tweet about and to whom. Just enter their (or your) username.
TweetWheel - Find out which of your friends follow each other on Twitter

Make money on your account
WhatsYourTweetWorth - Find out how much your Twitter account is worth, literally.
TwittAd - Sell the background of your Twitter profile page to advertisers, or advertise on other's pages

A Complete List of Twitter applications: By platform (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.)
TwitterFan

Want to add more to the list? Thoughts on which application works best? Leave a comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com.

Five ways to keep up with Social Media

Web interfaces such as Twitter, Facebook and Google have been stealing news headlines left and right, and there are now enough Social Media phrases to fill a modern dictionary.

If you chose to go on a social media binge, it can be a challenge to keep four personal profiles updated with accurate information. Much less, do most people have time to stay ahead of new trends and tools that become available. How does one stay on top of social media without inducing a coronary or aneurysm?

Five simple methods that require little effort:

1. Stop watching Lost. Obviously, you have to make SOME time to learn. One can only begin to fathom the amount productive free time possible if one stops watching mindless TV.

2. Start an RSS feed. Instead of surfing web sites, simply set up Google Reader (it takes 60 seconds or less, proven) and start following relevant blogs, sites and developers. Each day, check it once for new content and read what appeals to you.

3. Google Alerts. This is how it works: type in a few key phrases (Social Media and Web 3.0, for example) and have Google do the research for you. You will receive emails, at an interval of your choosing, listing links and sites where your key phrases have appeared. Companies also use this method as a way to keep track of who is talking about them in the blogosphere.

4. Del.icio.us and Digg. You're not going to find everything by yourself. Social bookmarking provides an enormous advantage to peer into what others have (dugg) up. The Internet is too big for anyone to navigate solo.

5. Talk to others and pose questions. Word of mouth is still one of the most effective communication tools. Start conversations with people who are interested in similar topics and ask questions. Even if you don't think they would know the answer, brainstorming is the first step toward original ideas!

Three blogs to add to your RSS feed (these are all PR, marketing and social media pros):
Seth Godin
Brian Solis
Todd Defren

There couldn't be a more appropriate video for this post:


Helpful? I hope so. Send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com or leave a comment!

Cyberspace to Face-to-Face

This Friday, three other PRSSA members and I will be attending our first Tweetup in Cincinnati. I was turned on to this concept by head hunter, blogger, and "research goddess" Amybeth Hale. By loose definition, a Tweetup is a face-to-face gathering of people who have connected via the Twitter community. It is, simply put, placing a face with a tweet, and a fantastic way to enhance the networking process.

It is utterly astounding the number of ways that one can communicate and be introduced to people around the globe via the internet and social media. With the advent of the digital generation, however, the value of traditional modes of communication has increased. Three examples come to mind:

1. Letters and thank-you notes. Specifically, those written by hand. I wonder if my own children will even be taught how to hold a pen, or rather learn the "home keys" on their laptop. Maybe they'll be taking an iPhone typing class. When was the last time you sent a hand-written letter to someone... not on a holiday or birthday?

2. Phone calls vs. texting. Some of us spend enough time on the phone already, but simply calling someone versus emailing them can go a long way. Not to mention the response time is diced in half. Texting isn't always the answer. Podcasting and Utterz are also a nice way to make online connections a littler more personal.

3. Intra-office emails vs. face-to-face conversation. One consistentcy I have seen at several professional experiences - there is always atleast one person who would rather email you 10 feet away than get up and talk to you. There are exceptions, of course ('reply all' emails, invitations, the person is busy, and so on), but there are far more opportunities to stand up and approach them.

In any case, the concern should be in preserving the authenicity of online conversation and interaction.

Call it learning to shake hands and smile in cyberspace.

Comments and emails are read and appreciated. Leave one here, or please don't hesitate to email me at pauljmatson@gmail.com or message me twitter.com/paulmatson

What (and) When to Twitter

As a senior PR student, it has been exciting to watch so many freshmen and undergraduate students get into social media. Even though I have been studying public relations since day one of classes, it took me two years to begin to understand why social media matters.

I frequently receive questions about what some social media tools are and what purpose they serve. Some still say that they think Twitter is "creepy" and that blogging "does not make any sense."

Sounds like a generation that has been jaded by Myspace.

Somehow I doubt we'll be watching a Dateline episode of "To Catch a Tweeter" any time soon. On the topics of Twitter and blogging, the two most frequent questions I hear are usually either:
What do I Twitter/Tweet about? (or) What should I blog about?

The most succinct answer I have about Twitter is this: use the 70-20-10 rule. (Thank you, Angela Maiers) Generally speaking:

--> 70% of your tweets should be about sharing articles, tools or helpful links;
--> 20% should be a personal thought or insight;
--> 10% should be personal conversation or responses

If you ever need to send someone a message that applies ONLY to them, a direct message is more appropriate 100% of the time. Simply type "d + their username" followed by your message.

The best advice I've ever heard about blogging comes from Seth Godin (granted, he is host to one of the most widely-read marketing blogs on Earth). Read it here. This was the last article I read before I began blogging in 2006.

Got a question? Please drop me an email at pauljmatson@ gmail.com or follow me on Twitter username: twitter.com/PaulMatson. Please subscribe!

For the PR pro: New Media tech tips

The New Media realm is rapidly evolving, and I have begun to realize that it is extremely helpful to have knowledge of both how to use new tools AND how they work. The beauty of effective online public relations (utilizing a variety of social media) is the ability to gain wide exposure at basically no expense.

Staying on the edge of what is possible with new media, here is a list of 8 tips that can help a PR pro stay on top of digital brand building:

1. Blog searching. As simple as it may sound, the search engine used to troll industry blogs can be a critical part of evaluating a company's reputation online. Google Blog Search and Technorati are usually good places to start.

2. URL rewriting. People pass along links constantly, using anything from emails, SMS, social bookmarking, etc. However, word of mouth is still the most potent form. Rewriting a web URL to an easy-to-remember format is key to maximize a web page's mobility.

3. Cloud Computing. Simply put, cloud computing is a technology in which tasks are assigned to a combination of connections, software and services accessed over a network. The network of servers and connections is collectively known as "the cloud." Using an access point, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or laptop, users can "reach" into the cloud for resources as they need them. Extremely handy for tech PR. A good example is Google Applications.

4. Traffic Monitoring. There are a variety of ways to track unique visitors and visitation time of web sites. Keeping track of these statistics is an essential way to continually redesign a page to a format that is most effective for the target audience it is intended to reach.

5. Social Media Applications. The most common example for Gen Y is the use of Facebook applications (coundowns, bumper stickers... basically little additions for a users profile). There are plenty of ways to develop these applications for free, then brand them with a company's message. Almost 90% of Facebook's applications are made by third party developers. It's the same story for applications used in conjunction with the iPod Touch and iPhone.

6. HTML blog and web utilities. The development of simple HTML or XML code can made into handy utilities for people's blogs or websites. By distributing the code for free, users can add them to their personal sites. Again, free exposure. The only catch for these tools (as well as SM apps) is to make the utility actually useful. The more unique, the better.

7. Keeping tabs on new content aggregators. RSS readers, feed readers, and search readers are just a few examples. With the explosion of SM getting larger every day, these tools are undoubtedly going to play a vital role in the consolidation of a user's multiple profiles and feeds.

8. Not SEO... SMO. Social media optimatization can be an enormous benefit to a brand entering the new media market. As most regular users are familiar with the idea, by allowing a web site's visitors to "join" and create a personal profile, loyatly and frequency increase while the bounce rate decreases. Additionally, it makes it much easier for common users to interact with one another. Facebook Chat is a great example of optimization.

And there you have it. If you have a question or would like to leave a comment, please feel free to leave it here or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Thanks!

The Future of Social Media

If you consider yourself even to be mildly Internet savvy, most people would be shocked if you haven't investigated at least one social media website. By the end of 2008, it is expected that there will be more than 230 million members of social media sites worldwide.

Social media is still a relatively infantile service, but there are literally thousands to choose from for any purpose under the sun, including professional, political, social, special interest, dating, and so on. But with boom of social media, where new sites are launched almost daily around the world, what is the main hype? What about 10 years from now?

One hotly contested topic is how to generate revenue from these sites. There are plenty of business models available (even some that work), but speculation is still widespread since the key characteristic to many popular sites is a free membership policy. Advertising is the largest profit contributor (by a wide margin), which made the social media industry worth more than 970 million dollars in 2007.

Furthermore, thousands of companies have slowly begun to realize the benefit of reaching their target demographics through social media outlets, which has sparked a slow revolution in cyberspace interactivity. Here are some predictions for the future of the social media madness:

1. Content aggregation will take the spotlight. Most companies or groups with a message are mostly interested in using "sexy" marketing campaigns. Viral video contests, build your own site or profile, etc. Content, however, will always trump other features. Searching for content can be a little inefficient for most sites, even for the monsters such Facebook, MySpace and Blogger. Therefore, finding what you're looking for can take some valuable time.

More and more businesses are literally spending millions of dollars creating mediocre widgets and "stuff" simply to throw their name and brand messaging on it. At a fraction of the cost, the same companies could aggregate the most important content in their brand, provide a utility that matters to the site's users, and get tremendous brand equity in return.

2. Mobility and utility equal survival. Within the next decade, it is likely that most online services will have some form of mobile access. Facebook Mobile and Twitter are common examples, but thousands of websites have developed a mini-screen format for their sites as well. While most new designs are made for the iPhone, Blackberry, or Treo, there are text-based versions for almost any phone with a screen and web access.

Because this technology is already available and improving exponentially, it is inevitable that it will be commonplace in the already saturated market of social media.

3. Out with the old, in with the new. Twitter's problems and debugging efforts are well known, but it certainly isn't the only service to only get it half right. With the emergence of newer companies with more sound software and API, it is possible that Twitter will become the Friendster of microblogging. As developers begin to interact in open sourcing (watch the Google Campfire One lecture if you don't believe me), it is a matter of time until popular sites and services are obsolete and new sites take their place.

Love or hate what you have read, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. New site design will be up soon!

Twittiquette

As fast as social media has emerged and is expanding, no one can legitimately call themselves an expert. Furthermore, in spite of the innovative tools (created almost daily) to reach our friends and/or target demographic, there are inherent flaws in the social media universe.

The key characteristic of any social media tool is that the content is solely or primarily user-generated. As wonderful and opportunistic as this is in regard to reaching a broad audience quickly, there is the harmful potential for messages to be lost in translation. Effective communication, whether it be verbal, digital, print, or personal, must be based on commonly accepted rules or practices. SM tools are used by an endless variety of people, therefore, the cultural rules of any tool is essentially created the more often it is used.

Time to pick on Twitter

Everyone has a different reason for joining Twitter. No matter the activity, members of the Twitter community either use the program to stay in touch with friends, reach target audiences for commodity or business news, or to communicate instantaneously with members of a particular industry. Some may utilize it once a year, others 100 times daily. Despite who is "following" you, almost anyone can read your Tweets. Therefore, certain rules should be followed in order to maintain the respect of those you wish to reach.

The obvious rules that many don't follow:

1. Don't use swear words. Ever. Cursing will never help your image or reputation.
2. Don't Tweet about colleagues or friends derogatorily. As mentioned, anyone can find it. It's a quick way to get fired, make fast enemies, and ultimately embarrass yourself for gossiping like a 7th grade girl in gym class.
3. Don't send direct Tweets if it only applies to you and that person. If you have something to say to a person that concerns no one else, send them an email or a private text message. People who receive your updates on their phones will be quickly annoyed. Especially if you have the recipients number.

When NOT to Tweet:

1. Because you're bored. These messages are almost guaranteed to be meaningless and a counterproductive contribution.
2. While your drinking, going to drink, or drunk. Especially if you're drunk. It's not hard to tell what someone is doing when you read a Tweet such as "gionig to get pizzza and see my BFF!!!!" (SENT at 2:21am) Think of Twitter as you would Facebook or MySpace. Not the kind of material that you want employers to read.
3. Every 10 seconds. No one cares (other than your mom) to know when you just ate an apple, walked upstairs, or are yawning. Atleast try to make it interesting.

Twitter lingo (not the same at IM slang):

1. Twitterspeak- Using language found only in Tweets, words not typically used in normal conversation
2. Tweet- A Twitter messages
3. Twoosh- A tweet that is exactly 140 characters
4. Twude- A guy on Twitter. Twitter Dude.
5. Twerd- A word used mainly on Twitter. Anything in this list.
6. Twarf- A single word Tweet
7. Twerk- A Twitter jerk

Click here for a twictionary.

Love or hate what you have read? Please leave a comment or send me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter or read my Tweets by clicking here. twitter.com/PaulMatson

The Social Media Lifestyle

From Internet forums, message boards, weblogs, wikis, podcasts, vlogs, to Twitter, Facebook and Second Life; the sky is limit when it comes to Social Media tools. Today's PR practitioner not only has the task of being knowledgeable about what tools are available, but must know which programs to use at what time. With the wide variety of Web 2.0-driven software, it can be a hot mess trying to discover the best social mediums for a brand.

Technology, of course, is only going become more advanced with time and will do so at an ever-increasing pace. An avid news junkie may even have trouble keeping tabs on the latest Social Media trend or daily Web 2.0 fad. A RSS feed of new SM tools and reading industry advice is not the end all solution. To be most effective, an industry practitioner needs to make Social Media a part of their daily lifestyle.

Your grandmother's Facebook

It's no secret that some of the Baby Boomers still have trouble understanding "the Google." Much less would you expect to be talking to your grandmother on Facebook chat, sharing your favorite sites with her on Del.icio.us or finding her blog on Technorati. There's nothing wrong with that, of course- it's just not a part of her lifestyle.

The Internet is a common ground for all information seekers with technology at their disposal. Unless one is immersed in Social Media tools on a regular basis, no one can expect to know the lingo, trends, or rules associated with every SM tool out there. Twitter may be easy to use, but there is an etiquette to be followed and methods to reach broader audiences that are not obvious to a first-time user.

No such thing as an expert

The bottom line is this: it takes time to learn how to EFFECTIVELY use Social Media. You wouldn't pick up a hammer out of your tool box and start whacking away unless you knew how to use it. Social Media can be profoundly effective or equally destructive if utilized poorly. Having a user name and password to every latest SM site does not make you an expert on to use it!

Take time to read about the programs, but not just from the homepage. Read blogs about the SM tool, scroll through public forums, and pay close attention to mainstream headlines when they happen to pop up in the news. Most importantly, use the tool regularly and pay close attention to how popular users operate their account.

Don't forget that the one characteristic that makes Social Media unique is the fact that it is user created and driven. Companies make the algorithm and concept, but people make the content.

And that, fellow blog reader, includes you.

Love or hate what you've read, please leave a comment or drop me an email at pauljmatson@gmail.com.

Daily dupes and marketing half-truths

All marketers are liars.

Well, not always. But it is safe to say that the average consumer has fallen for the the marketing dupe at least once.

And to clarify, dupe: Easily deceived.

America may be politically divided, but we are one united and loyal bunch when it comes to our fast food. Let's pick on Taco Bell and Wendy's. I would be the last to deny my occasional craving for some late night indulgences, especially after seeing a new commercial for the latest Taco Bell food "creation." However, after spending some in line at the drive-thru, it occurred to me that fast food chains are incredibly adept at re-packaging the same five or six ingredients into "new" items to regain our loyalty.

The Epiphany

At Taco Bell: The crunchy taco and soft taco contain the same three ingredients. Being the genius that Taco Bell is, they added a little sour cream and combined the two tacos to create the Crunchwrap Supreme. Or Transfat Supreme, rather. Same ingredients, more money.

At Wendys: Oh, the classic and refreshing Frosty. Not ice cream... Frosty. Several months ago, Wendys began offering a small bag of "mix-ins" (I still wonder if Coldstone looked into a copyright infringement lawsuit), and sold the new Frosty for an additional $1.30. With the amount of Oreo provided in the "mix-in" bags, not to mention you had to do the mixing yourself, I can't help but wonder how many Americans buy into this slide of hand. Even more recently, is the introduction of the Frosty Milkshake. Really, now? They can't possibly think we're that dumb. Who hasn't waited for their Frosty to melt and drank it with a straw? I was drinking Frosty milkshakes long before they called it that. Here's the new choice, and I would hardly call it a dilemma: Medium Frosty - $1.29. Frosty Milkshake (same size, with whipped cream on top) $3.19.

Enough with fast food. Let's focus on outdoor advertising. More specifically, the entertaining graphics and catch phrases we see on billboards driving down the interstate each day. My personal favorite is this:

"Stay at the Holiday Inn... where kids eat and stay for free!"

Whoa there road-tripping tourist families. Keep driving. Since no hotel anywhere charges extra for kids, not to everyone is welcome to the continental breakfast, I fail to see the "free" portion of this bargain. Sadly, I can only sadly imagine how many people have marveled at and fall for this outstandingly (false) deal.

The bottom line is this: Everyone is in the business of something. That means sales are necessary, and since everone is human, we want to believe we're being given a "insider" deal or a price break. Oh, contraire. Two rules to follow-

1. Think twice before paying more. Always.
2. If you were a given company, how would you try to make a sale to you?

God bless the $.99 menu.