twitter

When my company started doing social media for our clients – whether as a PR “add on” or a standalone social campaign, it was time I joined the fray. So I signed up on Facebook and then started Twitter. I made a vow that all my friends on FB would only be “real” friends. Twitter, follow away, but I did block things like NYC Towing. We just don’t have that much in common. My early tweets were nothing to write home about, usually a little cryptic and often written after a glass of wine. Sometimes they had a musical score to accompany them, written after dinner, often after I’d turned up my music and traipsed out on the balcony to watch the city lights. “Sooner or later this happens to everyone” was an oft-repeated tweet. Cheesy. I know. Then, my tweets started reflecting my day-to-day life, which I try to separate from my business world. Eventually, some of my business acquaintances became “friends” on FB. Things were getting complicated. Add a second stream of tweets for Brand Building and one’s head begins to spin. What’s the moral of this little tale? Keeping your various “streams” organized can be daunting, but it’s worth trying because as my managing director likes to say, “That’s social media lady, deal with it…”

Yes, that's right ladies and gents...according to PopEater some celebs including Britney Spears and P. Diddy are getting paid upwards of $20,000 PER TWEET!!

As a company who uses social media daily to not only promote our business but our clients as well, does this really come as a shock to anyone? I feel it's a genius idea....we all know that in today's society celebrity influence is HUGE with consumers...but I can’t help but wonder, do these celebrities really need this money?? Wouldn't it be great if instead of taking the money for themselves they were obligated to donate it to a charity of their choice?? That would be a win win for all! Who’s with me?!

Source: forbes.com

This week New York Magazine's cover reads: "00's The World Did Not End." Unfortunately, for some it did, but that's another story. In reading the article I was taken by a piece further in - "Ten Long Years Ago." I am quoting now, "To travel back in time to 1999, you have to start by shedding a few things, as though you're going through airport security. No iPod. No Smartphone. No YouTube. No Facebook. No Twitter. In 1999, the Internet was shiny-new and just out the box, and we still believed that its greatest utility was to deliver dog food to our door and packs of gum and cigarettes to us by hand."

Yep, that was us. Where did we lose our innocence? Yet another story altogether, I suppose...

So, as I sit on the eve of launching a business that will use the Internet as its hub, I have to thank this wacky new world. I have friends my age that get all up in arms about the "Big Brother" aspect of our social universe, and honestly I can't blame them for feeling a little freaked. But Big Bro, he's here to stay, so best make him your pal. All this to say 2010, bring it on. Enough of the 00s. And yes, we did survive and many of us thrived.

Oh, and if you were wondering, my guilty pleasure is rifling through the pages of New York Magazine. I love the photos! I love the kooky stories! I love the "finds"! It's all there. Check it out...

Everyone talks about the next Twitter. Not sure what that is going to look like, but of course things do change. For now, though, Twitter is the go-to medium for sending out mini missives about you, your life and what you think. I have to be honest, I'd tweet more if I wasn't in so many meetings. Well, maybe that's not exactly true, and it's not as if I don't have things to say, but tweeting isn't always top of mind.

One of the fun things about Twitter is following celebs, you feel like you're getting the inside scoop, silly ideas, misspelled words and all. Celebs, they're human! But, apparently, some celebs are calling it quits. Let's consider why...

Tweeting, too difficult in between make-up artist sessions and fittings (plus lunch with high roller agents).

Tweeting, gosh what the heck to say?

Tweeting, yikes, now they know what I'm REALLY thinking, will this be bad for my image?

Tweeting, I'm not really doing it myself anyway, so who cares?

Tweeting? Hey, I forgot, why am I doing this again?

And that brings up the point. Why do we tweet? Because we CAN! Rock on Twitter. Give us that place to talk it out. Celebs, do what you do, be famous. Twitter will live, with or without you. Ah, the world is right again.

Source: alloy.com
 

It seems to me that now a days blogging is the only way to go. Whether it's micro blogging, the normal blogging or status updates, we no longer reach for our phones to make a phone call but rather to update our social media profiles. Should we no longer ask for people’s phone number, but instead their Facebook and Twitter user names? With all these new platforms emerging, I often wonder how we will ever have enough time to keep up with them all. Heck, our company devotes an entire division to managing this for clients.
 
Although my bread and butter is made from telling clients they NEED to be in the social media realms, I strongly believe that face time is much more important than Facebook time. Yes, it's important to have a social media presence. And yes, you should keep your virtual "friends" and followers informed, but at the end of the day, how many of these people are really your friends? If you can't make the face time, at least make the phone call. Maybe Twitter is onto this idea also since they just launched the new (but when you're reading this, probably not the latest) application allowing you to make phone calls via Twalkin. Oh Twitter, you're always on top of the trends!

I know we’ll most likely be using this new application for our campaigns, so go ahead and give us a call. But, to be honest, it’s probably easier to get in touch online ☺ Someday I’ll practice what I preach.

Source: weblogcartoons.com

Of course Twitter was going to come up with a smart way to innovate AND satisfy customer demand, Twitblogs! Now, you don't have to limit yourself to 140 characters and you can add images, etc. Well, it's certainly a good thing for those of us who like using this social platform to extend our client's causes BUT I kind of liked the short, "must think concisely" older version. Nostalgia. It's getting so 5 minutes ago, isn't it?

Anyway, ok I haven't tweeted for a while, and I have my reasons (going to get back on the train today!) but my laziness aside I like the tightness of the medium BECAUSE it makes you THINK. How can I express something in a meaningful way with just a few words? Yes, we are children (or parents) of the sound bite era so we should be used to this type of short format. But I think most of us found it surprisingly fun, if not a challenge.

Our agency will certainly use this new opp for clients. I will try to get my act together and tweet more regularly. Gosh, there's always something to do, isn't there? LOL!
 

Source: nirmaltv.com

I am making a bold step and “exposing” a little bit of myself in this blog… so here goes.  For the last few months (!!) I have found myself involuntarily thinking and processing my life events in 140 characters or less: “Kelly often wonders why people on the streets of NYC act like people can’t see them when they are picking their nose in public.” “Kelly knows the day is going to be good when the trains on the morning commute are totally in sync.” “Kelly wishes she was outside enjoying the amazing September weather today.” This happens regardless of whether or not I actually post the information in my status.  My internal editor processes the content and then it goes through the “is this interesting enough for an actual update” phase.

I was secretly ashamed that I have been so overtaken by my social media (and a little worried that I might be going a little loopy) and thought I must be the only person that is doing this. The internal pressure to be clever, inventive and “create reaction” was almost overpowering. Then, breakthrough. In a casual conversation with friends the subject naturally came up and my friends admitted that they were doing the exact same thing. I at once let out a big sigh of relief and we all half joked about how Facebook, Twitter and the likes have changed the way we process our life experiences… what is too much to tell your network of 300+ friends? What is funny and are we really becoming “too social” when broadcasting all of our virtual dirty laundry?

It is undeniable the power of social media and for the hundreds of millions of users in the world it has created a platform for not only information sharing but for self-expression and promotion. I am not an anthropologist, philosopher or behavioral scholar, but it seems very clear to me (at least in my own head) that the “status update” mentality will forever change how we think and share information with our friends/followers.

Source: buildamovement.com
 

Predictions are always tricky and often dangerous. But in our business, we make it our job to predict the latest and greatest trends and tools in the social media arena. Granted, we may have some missteps along the way, but why should that stop us?

So, here it is folks, the new up-and-coming social media space – TUMBLR! Although it may not be the newest platform, it is definitely the one with the greatest potential – the new “Twitter”, if you will. Tumblr has everything you could want in a social media platform: bookmarks to easily grab content from the Internet and post to your site, a popular iPhone application, audio posts, and the option for tons of free themes to personalize your space. It’s essentially Facebook, Twitter and MySpace all-in-one.

This hybrid of popular social media outlets allows Tumblr enthusiasts to ‘reblog’ each other’s posts (in much the same way that retweets distribute content on Twitter), monitor ‘Tumbularity’ (follower scoring system), pull content from those they follow (similar to Facebook and Twitter), and broadcast a ‘Tumblelog’ (essentially a blog). Using Tumblr has been described as ‘lifestreaming,’ and with all these features it is easy to see why.

Over 7 million users worldwide have jumped on this band-wagon including Katy Perry, John Legend, and Josh Groban. Tumblr is near the tipping point – all it will take is a few news/tv/celebrity mentions to catch fire.

You heard it HERE first, now go out and become part of the next big thing!
 

Source: raincoastermedia.com

This week I am going to blog on blogs. I recently took a look at a smattering of my favorite beauty, fashion and chocolate blogs. This week I am “reviewing” (take this word lightly and keep in mind that if I am writing about something it generally means I like it) a variety of blogs in the social media arena. Let’s start with Mashable.com.

Mashable.com is the world’s largest blog on Web 2.0 and social networking and includes articles, news and features on a variety of related topics. The blog was founded in 2005 by Pete Cashmore and has been rated one of the top 10 profitable blogs by the blog ranking service Technorati. If you aren’t interested in the blog, get interested in Pete. Besides being ridiculously smart, he’s ridiculously hot. From publishing real breaking news to offering up great leads on resources and guides in the social media sphere, this is the place to be. I follow Mashable on Twitter (again, great for breaking news and updates on timely perspective).

If you can, try to get yourself to one of the Mashable meetups in LA or NY. And whatever you do, check it out!
 

Source: facebook.com, mashable.com

Here is a paradox: my mom doesn’t know how to send a text message from her cell phone, but she is all over the internet – forums are her second home.

Moms’ social media revolution has come and gone: US moms have conquered the web and established themselves across all online fronts: blogs, message boards, groups, social networking sites – you name it. Moms have become one of the Internet’s most influential groups and desirable targets for social media marketers.

eMarketer.com estimates 34 million mothers in the US go online at least once a month – an astonishing number, especially if you compare it to the total number of internet users in Great Britain, for example, which is just 43 million!

Moms have always relied on viral word of mouth – now they just moved it online. According to a research study conducted by MomCentral.com, 94% of moms rely on recommendations from other moms when it comes to purchasing decisions.

Thanks to Mom Central, now we also know where to find moms online:

• 60% are active on Facebook
• 40% of moms are active on MySpace
• 39% are active on Yahoo! Groups
• 37% use YouTube
• 25% have their own blog
• 20% use Twitter
• 14% use Flickr

For moms who use Twitter specifically, the numbers are even higher:

• 65% actively use Facebook
• 54% blog themselves, and 99% regularly read blogs
• 48% consider themselves early tech adopters

Staying in touch with social media moms is particularly pertinent for our clients on the consumer products side. And here comes another paradox: these days, you can sometimes ignore your own mom terrorizing your cell five times a day, but you can’t afford ignoring the booming mom community online.

Check out this post on Mashable for some really useful tips on “HOW TO: Attract and Engage Social Media Moms.”