Everything you need to know about Twitter, you learned in kindergarten

Posted on August 7, 2009 by Steve Mays

I learned from @chadlivengood that the Missouri State Teachers Association is now on Twitter (@MSTA). I seem to recall them advertising on one of our radio networks a few years ago. I’ve been thinking about what they were getting for their money. Basically, distribution of their message to radio stations affiliated with our network. If someone was listening to one of these stations when an MSTA announcement aired, mission accomplished.

So what does the MSTA do with Twitter. In theory, everyone in the state could see their tweets. But only if they choose to “follow” @MSTA. The association must persuade people to pay attention to their Twitter feed? Most advertisers spend a lot of time or money or both on the messages they air on radio and TV. But even if the message is weak, someone hears it.

With Twitter, nobody sees the message unless it’s good (i.e. relevant, interesting). And being limited to 140 characters forces one to boil the message down to the essence. Distribution is free, but worthless unless you have something to say.

During my radio days I wrote and produced commercials and entered what I considered my best in competitions each year. I wonder if there are competitions for the best commercial tweet? I doubt it. Nobody wants to hear “commercials,” no matter how short they are.

From a traditional advertising perspective, Twitter’s only up side is it’s free. It can take a long time to grow the number of people who follow you. And more importantly, they have all the power, all the control. If a company is successful, it has something far more valuable than advertising. Something that money –literally– cannot buy.

Given enough time and money, even a bad product or service can see returns from advertising. Not so with social media. I’m not sure it’s possible to teach a company how to be open, honest, authentic and caring. They were supposed to have learned that in kindergarten.

“If you’re not responding, you’re not seen as an authentic brand”

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Steve Mays

“If you’re not responding, you’re not seen as an authentic brand”

The eye rolling and derisive snorting I used to get by mentioning Twitter have been replaced by a thin-lipped, folded arm silence. Due in some part, I’m sure, to stories like the one in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“Ford Motor Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., among others, are deploying software and assigning employees to monitor Internet postings and blogs. They’re also assigning senior leaders to craft corporate strategies for social media.”

“Some companies are training staffers to broaden their social-media efforts. At Ford, Scott Monty, Ford’s head of social media, plans to soon begin teaching employees how to use sites like Twitter to represent the company and interact with consumers.

Coca-Cola Co. is preparing a similar effort, which initially will be limited to marketing, public affairs and legal staffers. Participants will be authorized to post to social media on Coke’s behalf without checking with the company’s PR staff, says Adam Brown, named Coke’s first head of social media in March.”

If you want my business, you’ll listen to what I have to say, and respond. Or suffer a PR shit storm.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124925830240300343.html

The eye rolling and derisive snorting I used to get by mentioning Twitter have been replaced by a thin-lipped, folded-arm silence. Due in some part, I’m sure, to stories like the one in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“Ford Motor Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Southwest Airlines Co., among others, are deploying software and assigning employees to monitor Internet postings and blogs. They’re also assigning senior leaders to craft corporate strategies for social media.”

“Some companies are training staffers to broaden their social-media efforts. At Ford, Scott Monty, Ford’s head of social media, plans to soon begin teaching employees how to use sites like Twitter to represent the company and interact with consumers.

“Coca-Cola Co. is preparing a similar effort, which initially will be limited to marketing, public affairs and legal staffers. Participants will be authorized to post to social media on Coke’s behalf without checking with the company’s PR staff, says Adam Brown, named Coke’s first head of social media in March.”

If you want my business, you’ll listen to what I have to say, and respond. Or suffer a PR shit storm.

Shutting the in-box

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Steve Mays

Leo Babauta says he’s done with email. Sort of. It’s really an interesting idea and I can imagine giving it a try if self-employed:

“After more than 15 years of dealing with email, of checking email multiple times a day, of responding over and over throughout the day, of deleting spam and unsubscribing from newsletters and unwanted notices, of filtering out messages and notifications, of deleting those dumb forwarded jokes and chain mails …I’m done. I’m done, because email takes up too much of my time. I’m done, because I don’t like being at the mercy of every incoming request, because I would rather spend my free time creating than replying to emails.”

Leo plans to set up an auto-responder so his correspondents won’t think he’s dead and use Twitter as his main form of communication. For longer conversations he’ll go with IM or Skype. If he needs to collaborate, there’s Google Docs. Friends and family can just pick up the phone and call.

I hope it works for him. Someday I hope to give it a try, too. And for the record, your best bet for reaching me is commenting here or the Gmail address in the sidebar. The work email address is the last thing I check. [via @steverubel]

Twitter spammers: No clue. No pride.

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Steve Mays

I really hate to think that spammers will be able to destroy Twitter in the same way they’ve destroyed email. Okay, maybe not destroyed but made it a pain in the ass to use. And I haven’t gotten much spam on Twitter but know it’s coming.

Here’s the latest. I know nothing about Shorty Small’s –other than they are clueless– but will, in the unlikely event I find myself in Branson, avoid it and encourage you to do the same.

They search twitter for any reference to “Branson” and then put a little commercial in your Twitter stream. In the example to the right, you’ll notice the business didn’t know (care?) that I was poking fun at Branson. BBQ spam. Yum!

Mobile Media

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Steve Mays

Hard to beat the iPhone for audio and video if you want immediate and easy upload to YouTube. The stills are not as good as the Casio delivers. (Can you guess which took the photo below?)

Posterous is fun and easy but not sure that it gives me much that Twitter does not, especially since YouTube now talks to Twitter. There is something about seeing the media nicely presented, in-line on the Posterous page, but you have to get folks there. I’m looking forward to seeing how Tweetie gets video from the iPhone to my Twitter stream.

It all gets a little confusing with literally too many choices. But I do like being able to share the media quickly, even a some sacrifice in quality. I’m guessing I’ll wind up using Twitter, YouTube and Mobile Me for on-the-fly. The blog will get posts like this, after I’ve had a time to reflect and look more closely at the available media.

Is Twitter now the place for breaking news?

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Steve Mays

I learned this morning –via Twitter– that the Edward R. Murrow Awards will be announced this morning (11Eastern)… on Twitter. One of our company websites won a Murrow award a few years back and it’s kind of a big deal.

The awards are presented by RTNDA, which used to stand for Radio-Television News Directors Association. And may still. But the association now refers to itself as “The Association of Electronic Journalists.” A good move.

Choosing to announce their annual awards on Twitter speaks volumes. I salute the “AEJ” for recognizing and using this tool.

“The revolution will be Twittered”

Posted on June 13, 2009 by Steve Mays

“As the regime shut down other forms of communication, Twitter survived. With some remarkable results. Those rooftop chants that were becoming deafening in Tehran? A few hours ago, this concept of resistance was spread by a twitter message. Here’s the Twitter from a Moussavi supporter:

ALL internet & mobile networks are cut. We ask everyone in Tehran to go onto their rooftops and shout ALAHO AKBAR in protest #IranElection

That a new information technology could be improvised for this purpose so swiftly is a sign of the times. It reveals in Iran what the Obama campaign revealed in the United States. You cannot stop people any longer. You cannot control them any longer. They can bypass your established media; they can broadcast to one another; they can organize as never before.” — Andrew Sullivan’s The Daily Dish

Twitter in sports about message control

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Steve Mays

“Twitter lets athletes speak on their own terms. “It’s going to be useful during the season, because after a game, I’ll be able to say my piece instead of just allowing different media outlets to portray me how they want to portray me,” said St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson, one of football’s prolific tweeters. Talk to any athlete or coach about the benefits of Twitter, and they’ll put message control at the top of the list. “In this world we live in now, everybody becomes media,” said Shaquille O’Neal, whose enormous following of more than 1 million has fueled Twitter fever in sports. “If something is going to be said, hey, it’s coming from me, it’s coming from my phone.” Journalists may lament athletes passing over the middle men. But honestly, what’s more interesting, a “we gave 110 percent” from the postgame podium, or a tweet like this from Shaq: “Dam manny ramirez, come on man Agggggggggh, agggggggh, agggggh.” — SI.com

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“The universe was endorsing her action by cooperating at every turn.” — Random Walk by Lawrence Block

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