Archive for the ‘social media’ Category
SOBCon NonProfit Give Back Day
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
On Sunday May 2nd, SOBCon 2010 will highlight four charities (501c3) that have volunteered themselves for a social media coaching session from its attendees. I have the great honor of serving the conference as the NonProfit Give Back facilitator.
Each of our four charities — Anixter, Ashoka, InvisiblePeopleTV and Vitamin Angels — will discuss their strategy, current social media efforts, and online hopes. From there the room, comprised of some of the brightest minds in social media, will match the mission and goals of the organizations with the tools, with the end game of providing meaningful social media strategy that can impact the world.
Like my Zoetica colleague and CEO Beth Kanter likes to say, “Even better, what if we all learned from the process?” In addition to group sharing, we will have break-out sessions where each table
Sounds like a plan to me. The following is a brief description of each of our four participants. I hope to see you at SOBCON!
Our Participants
Anixter: The mission of Chicago-based the Anixter Center is to enhance the ability of individuals living with or at risk of disabilities to live, learn, work, and play in the community. Each year, at dozens of locations across greater Chicago, Anixter Center provides an array of effective, innovative services to more than 5,000 children and adults. These services include education, employment, life skills, communication, recreation, health care, counseling, and support.
Ashoka: The global association serves the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women tackling system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, more than 2,000 leading social entrepreneurs have become Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With its global community, Ashoka develops models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector.
InvisiblePeopleTV: Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal on Twitter) will come and discuss Invisible People. For years mark used the lens of a television camera to tell the stories of homelessness and the organizations trying to help. The reports were produced well and told a story, but the stories Mark produces now on Invisible People are much different. These are the real people, telling their own, very real stories… unedited, uncensored and raw. The purpose: To make the invisible visible.
Vitamin Angels: This socially-savvy charity seeks to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.
Popularity: 15% [?]
Tags: @hardlynormal, Anixter, ashoka, Beth Kanter, InvisiblePeople, Liz Strauss, Mark Horvath, SOBCon
Posted in Cause, social media | 1 Comment »
Six Things To Change In Buzz
Monday, February 15th, 2010
My professional opinion on Buzz aside, as a user I find it to be a frustrating experience (image by tifa). Perhaps I’ve become spoiled with other networks, but Buzz strikes me as the Hyundai of social networks. Rather than just complain, I’d like to offer some suggestions. Here are six things I’d like to see changed in Buzz, all of which have been submitted to the Buzz team.
1) The background is killing me. There’s so much white space in Buzz, that I find it hard to read. Google’s patented look yes, but it does not lend itself to a friendly web screen presence… And since there are no real Buzz clients yet, please allow me to inject some customization and color. My old man eyes need it.
2) Can’t say it any better than this: It’s new and clunky. Make Buzz fluid, please.
3) Don’t forward commented posts. A fellow who shall not be named posted eight photos of a young lady’s derriere yesterday. I commented on the post to this effect: “She’s beautiful, yes, but this photoset indicates stalking.” Next thing you know this fellow’s post is in all of my follower’s feeds, and the ladies were not happy about it. I unfollowed said person simply because I cannot afford to anger my user base with someone else’s online behavior.
4) Give users the option to decouple email: Buzz makes Gmail a bacon haven, and that’s not good. I get too much email, and more socnet email is not what I want. Nor do I want notifications in my email desktop. Making people figure out a GMail filter is not cool, either. Generally speaking on Gmail and Buzz together, Boo!
5) Hasten the apps process: I think not having desktop or mobile clients out the gate was a mistake. Did Google strike with an element of surprise? Yes, it did. Does its service suffer for it? Why, yes, it does.
6) Similarly, publish a FAQ. Why do I have to search for all of the ways to integrate Buzz into my social media. Google should be doing everything it can to make the experience easier on users.
What would like to see changed about Buzz?
Popularity: 18% [?]
Tags: Buzz, changes, Gmail, social media, social network
Posted in Geekery, Rants, social media | 21 Comments »
Not Buying It! Sponsored Media = Advertising
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Sometimes the 2.0 world tries to reinvent some things, like advertising, and give it a new name (image by nocas). And so it is with the term, “Sponsored Media,” perpetrated by the likes of such companies as Pay Per Post, oops, IZEA, and TwitAd. These companies have even solicited, and in some cases, paid for the support of some of PR 2.0’s most celebrated voices in support of sponsored media.
The sponsored spin reminds me of the energy industry’s clean coal positioning. No matter how you greenwash it, it’s still dirty.
Ironically, the end result is less trust in peer to peer media. Why? Because some of the most trusted voices are now blogging for money, and can’t even do so in a clear-cut transparent manner by declaring these posts as paid advertorials (remember that term, media buyers?). Instead they hide behind the “new term” sponsored, which is in fact a retroactive term dating back to the 50s and 60s when broadcast advertisers were called, gasp, “sponsors.”
I’m not so disappointed in IZEA and the like. With the rise of new media power, it was inevitable that money would come along and seek various ways (good and bad) of becoming associated with the voice of the authentic amateur.
It’s understandable that some people see this as a legitimate means of monetizing their blog or Twitter stream. Selling placement on your blog/media property is. It’s also a Faustian dance where depending on how far below the surface you sink, you sacrifice trust and relationships for contractual riches.
My disappointment lies in those that go so far as to claim that they are ushering in a new era of media transparency; that they are leading the PR 2.0 revolution, and yet support — even promote — this sponsored media spin. As someone who has been along for a great portion of the ride, I am saddened by these developments. Some people who I hold in high regard look tarnished now.
Frankly, the term sponsored media fools no one. Except the people trying to rationalize their IZEA pay check.
Recommendations
Organizations: Don’t believe the hype. It’s advertising, and as such has value, but sponsored media is nothing more than the electronic advertorial. And no matter what someone tells you, the post will be met with less trust than a traditional one.
Bloggers/Media Owners: I think everyone understands that monetization needs to happen for some. If at all possible, try to monetize in different ways though, for this method sacrifices your integrity and trust factor, especially with frequency.
Also, call it what it is. The sponsored media bit makes you look slimy, and actually increases your distrust factor exponentially. Why? You look like you are trying to trick people. Readers will be much more accepting of the occasional paid placement if it is simply called an advertisment.
Popularity: 20% [?]
Posted in Rants, social media | 18 Comments »
Pepsi Refresh Campaign Critique
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Today on the Buzz Bin I wrote a piece on Fragmented Branding that breaks down the Pepsi Refresh corporate social responsibility campaign as an example. Five points that should be noted in that piece:
1) Brand distortion creates a situation where communicators attempt to paint the abstract. In the case of fragmented branding, some pieces are issued by corporate, others are the expressions of stakeholders, positive and negative.
2) Both Richard Laermer and I dubbed the campaign an instant success on our podcast, simply because of the many conversations it has created.
3) What was notable about Pepsi Refresh project was the size of the purse, as well as the opt out of the Super Bowl. Copy cat marketing efforts are sure to arise, and less successfully so.
4) Corporate social philanthropy needs to be authentic to the core of the company. Customer-centric efforts with crowdsourcing efforts are cool, but ultimately represent a novelty, especially for niche brands that are not serving mass markets. Companies will be better served building programs around the corporate culture or strategy.
5) Contest fatigue is setting in. And criticism of cause-based contests is also on the rise. Make sure this is the right tactic as opposed to engaging your community in a different, more sustainable way.
You can read the whole post on the Buzz Bin, where I blog every Monday about social media communications.
Popularity: 13% [?]
Tags: buzz bin, corporate social responsibility, pepsi refresh, post
Posted in Cause, social media | No Comments »
Social Zen
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
One of the more interesting aspects of the social web lies in its ability to enable ideas to be spread further throughout society. Movements really catch fire when people identify with an idea and spread it further. Thus ideas need to be attractive, rather than promoted. Zen Buddhism — a spiritual ethic that attracts its practitioners rather than seeking growth through promotion — proliferates the social web.
And like other online movements, social Zen (and other forms of buddhism) seems to be characterized by those who have embraced the concept, but have morphed into their own expression. Consider the widely read Zen Habits blog, YouTube videos, these collected Zen CSS templates, Zen iPhone apps, Zenish social networks, etc.
Everything’s Zen!
There does exist concern in the formal Zen community that pop Zen will dilute the faith. Hipsters wearing new leather jackets, eating meat at every meal, checking their cell phones in the middle every activity, and generally walking around without any formal knowledge of mindfulness, etc., often represent the antithesis of Zen teachings.
One can even buy Zen tea now in most parts of the country (image by Robert Donovan)
But one cannot argue that the proliferation of the Zen ethos into west has had a positive impact, from personal life in the moment reflections to business approaches. Further, some forms of the Buddhist tradition — including Zen — have traditionally morphed to meet its residential culture’s needs. Thus the rise of people like Phil Jackson who identify themselves as both Zen and Christian. With the demands of the urgent needs of day-to-day digital life, an undercurrent of Buddhism has arisen within the social web and mainstream life to bring back a meditative, purposeful reflection on life.
Online movements are generated by people and communities, though some corporations and governments have certainly started to figure out how the social web works. And similarly Buddhist monasteries have found their way to the social web, too. In many ways this fascinates me, not only on a personal level, but also as someone who helps nonprofits and mindful companies understand social media.
Consider the Dalai Lama’s impressive Facebook page. The Dalai Lama’s form of Buddhism -Vajrayana – is a different route to enlightenment than Zen, which is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Yet arguably his presence has made the greatest strides in branching the formal teachings of Buddhism to the west on the social web.
On the Mahayana Zen side, one of the most well known teachers is Nobel Peace Prize-nominated Thich Nhat Hanh, from whom I’ve had the great pleasure of learning (above photo shows me providing blog training at Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village). Nhat Hanh’s sangha has built out a Facebook and Twitter presence as well. The sangha has used blogs and Care2’s petition site for activism as well.
Theravada Buddhism also pervades the social web with discussions and blogs. Unlike the other two major Buddhist vehicles, Theravada training has traditionally been limited to monastic life. It will be interesting to see if social media enables transmission of the Theravada ethic to laypeople.
Popularity: 21% [?]
Posted in Cause, Pop Philosophy, social media | 3 Comments »
Upcoming 2010 Conference Schedule
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
Tomorrow morning, I have my first speaking engagement of the year at the first ever Social Media Breakfast DC. So, in that spirit, I figured I’d publish my intended conference schedule for the first half of 2010. While this schedule may have a couple of additions, they will be few and far between.
I hope to see you at one of these events.
Speaking Engagements
- Social Media Breakfast DC (Keynote) – January 25, 2010
- NonProfit 2.0 (Organizer), Washington, DC, February 12, 2010
- Ignite 3 DC – February 18, 2010
- St. Mary’s School, San Antonio, March 25, 2010
- NewComm Forum 2010, San Fran, April 19-23
- Next Level Hawaii (Keynote Session), Honolulu, April 29 – May 2, 2010
- SOBCon (Nonprofit Day Facilitator), Chicago, April 30 – May 2, 2010
- Webcom (Keynote Session) – Montreal, May 25-27, 2010
I will also be attending Sex::Tech (February 26-7), SxSW (March 12-15), and Sustainable Brands (June 7-10).
Popularity: 17% [?]
Tags: DC, Ignite, NewComm Forum, Next Level, NonProfit 2.0, Sex::Tech, SOBCon, Social Media Breakfast, Sustainable Brands, SxSW, WebCom
Posted in Zoetica, social media | No Comments »
What’s Coming Next?
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Last week the Washington, DC chapter of IABC held an event on the past and future decade in online media. Daria Steigman moderated the panel, which included John Taylor, Sprint; Shashi Bellmakonda, Network Solutions; Torod Neptune, Waggener Edstrom; and Paul Sherman, Potomac Techwire.
The first conversation was fascinating, discussing which media properties mattered most, new or old. Instead of the usual black and white debate, Sherman noted that it really was a question of the stakeholder and the media forms they prefer. Neptune also noted that influence was determined media outlet by media outlet, not by traditional or new form. This matches the larger trend of confluence we are seeing between new and old media forms in the current marketplace.
All of the panelists agreed that organizational culture still continues to be the biggest barrier to success in social. It became apparent that determining how (or if) to embrace social needs to be a much more thought out process for organizations, particularly those with conservative cultures.
Both Sprint’s Taylor and Bellamkonda noted the important impact that mobile was making. Taylor added that the industry broke a record with mobile fundraising for Haiti. Shashi added that anyone could communicate using mobile, and noted Twitter as a primary example, as well as its importance to companies.
Corporate social responsibility campaigns are also becoming an important part of online communications for companies. Taylor noted Pepsi’s $20 million online giving program that replaced its traditional Super Bowl ads.
Later in questions and answers, the NBA’s suspension of Gilbert Arenas was noted, in particular, whether or not the league had a right to stifle Agent Zero’s tweeting. Bellamkonda noted that if its illegal, employees cannot be talking about it. Panelists all agreed that the NBA had to act to protect the Bullets, er Wizards, image.
Also of note, IABC-DC President Shonali Burke celebrated her birthday at the event. She used social tools to make her 40th a fundraising endeavor for Kids with Cameras.
Popularity: 12% [?]
Tags: Daria Stegman, future, Gilbert Arenas, John Taylor, mobile, Paul Sherman, Pepsi, Shashi Bellamkonda, Shonali Burke, social media, Torod Neptune
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »
Tweet to Your Own Drummer
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
There’s so much focus on the “right way” to Tweet, one could get lost figuring out the social network for oneself or their company. While generally helpful, there are so many right ways for Twitter I feel sorry for the newcomer, who must delineate amongst the many disparate unofficial Rules of 140 Etiquette.
Which brings to mind the old cliché, “Rules are made to be broken.”
Proper methodology be damned. Really, what matters? Be true to yourself. An authentic, genuine and valuable presence will ring through the clutter of proper tweets following so called rules. Noise is noise. Authentic conversation and real personality always seem to stand out in my feed.
I laughed when I read popular tweeter Ed Shahzade’s amusing comment that a Twitter hiatus was in poor form. By whose rules? I don’t value quantity, instead quality matters more.
To me, showing full-on presence and transparency to the point of the great soap debate (bar or shower gel?) seems ludicrous. I know no one cares about a routine dentist’s appointment, yet another visit to the gym, or the choice between petunias or roses (unless you’re a florist or known gardener). And frankly, beyond TMI, it’s boring for you, too.
After three years on Twitter, I know what works for me, and that’s what I do. For me, it’s better to show up early when I am fresh and rested. It’s public, so it’s often (but not always) a work thing. My goal: To provide valuable information and links, and converse with those who want to engage with me. And yes, I show some personal stuff, but to a reasonable point… For me. Your level of reason and comfort will surely be different than mine.
Don’t let your comfort level, goals and presence on Twitter (and other social networks) find their basis in someone else’s values. They should be defined by that most important person – You (or your organization). That’s who I want to talk with. Tweet to your own drummer.
Popularity: 17% [?]
Tags: best practices, Ed Shahzade, how-to, twitter, zen
Posted in social media | 33 Comments »
Twitter Hiatus – Where Is @geoffliving?
Friday, November 6th, 2009
As many folks know, I will be traveling quite a bit over the next two months (and also wrapping up a couple CRT/tanaka projects). Rest, reflection and preparation requires significant time for contemplation, etc. To achieve that one needs to separate from the day-to-day grind, and for me that includes Twitter (image by Jen Consalvo).
So to my Twitter friends, I am saying adieu for much of the remainder of 2009. It’s my intent to post a blog periodically, especially right before the big Copenhagen Conference and with an occasional travel update. Those posts will be sent automatically to my Twitter feed. A random picture or two may make its way out there as well. I may even check in for a chat once in a blue moon (or I may not). But for the most part, don’t expect to see me.
It’s not goodbye, just a break. I look forward to many new exciting conversations on Twitter in 2010. Have a great holiday season, my friends!
Popularity: 35% [?]
Posted in Me, Myself and I, social media | 13 Comments »
What 100K Twitter Followers Gets You
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Everyone always seems fascinated with Twitter follower counts. Friend Beth Kanter was recently added to the official Twitter recommended list, which in turn added more than 100,000 new followers to her account. We decided to see what kind of impact the new following brought with it.
We did this by retweeting a link to the above photo featuring her and fellow BlogPotomac Keynote Shel Israel. Before Beth’s tweet, the photo had approximately 140 views. After she tweeted it, the photo garnered another 260 views, ten of which you could assume came from prior tweets and links.
So unofficially, Beth’s then 120,000 followers produced a click through rate of 0.2 percent. Now on my feed of 7,500 followers a popular photo like the above if it’s not retweeted (as this one was when I dropped it) usually gets about 50 click throughs, or approximately 0.7 percent. In this case if you include RTs, I accounted for roughly 150 views or 2 percent (sounds like email click throughs).
So the lessons learned? Generally speaking, with more casual followers you lose engagement and influence power.
While the actual number of click throughs increased with numbers. if the following isn’t organically or naturally cultivated then people care much less about your tweets, and are not as likely to click through. Influence wanes without relationships. Social media is still relational. It’s better to cultivate a rabid community than a massive following.
I’ve seen this same phenomena on large client Twitter accounts as well as heard it from other folks with 100k Twitter followings. Bigger is not necessarily better.
P.S. See Beth’s post on how she came to be listed, and the impact it’s had on her.
Popularity: 63% [?]
Tags: @kanter, Beth Kanter, follower, influence, recommended list, shel israel, twitter
Posted in social media | 82 Comments »
