Twitter in Real Life?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Next week, the Media and Society class at LBCC will examine new technology and the Internet, including social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and blogging. Here's a fun video about Twitter from College Humor.

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Social Media for PR Pros Working with Reporters

A friend and local public relations professional sent me a Facebook message asking my opinion on a couple of questions she was considering for a newsletter article she was writing about social media, public relations and working with reporters.

She asked:

1. How have relationships changed between reporters and public relations professionals over the last decade?

2. What tips would you offer to a public relations professional to interact with reporters and build a trusted relationship?

Here's my response:

In this age of social media, public relations professionals have more authority – and responsibility – than ever before. This includes their relationships with news reporters and other media professionals, who they now outnumber.

With smaller newsrooms and tighter deadlines, reporters are even more reliant on public relations professionals to provide quick and accurate details about breaking news events or background information for longer-term stories. Reporters are working at breakneck speed these days to post stories online, so making immediate contact with knowledgeable, responsive PR pros is essential. Where once there existed a more clearly separate reporter-source relationship, today it’s all about collaboration.

Just as journalists are feeling more pressed to deliver, public relations professionals are under increasing pressure to stay “ahead of the story,” whether responding to an incident involving their company or setting the news agenda. And with extensive social media networks and information distribution channels of their own, they no longer have to rely solely on the news media to “get the word out.”

Meanwhile, customers as well as news and information consumers no longer have to depend on the media to find out what’s going on. Here’s where the job of public relations professionals becomes most critical, and must be most transparent. Customers want the facts and they want them now. They are savvy enough to recognize spin. And with their own social media networks, they will punish businesses and public relations professionals who mess with them. Who can afford having a Facebook campaign launched against them?!

With this in mind, here are some tips for public relations professionals looking to build a stronger relationship with the media:

1. Take full advantage of all the social media tools out there – Facebook, Facebook fan pages, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, Google maps, Flickr, Web sites, podcasts, wikis … and don’t forget old standbys such as e-mail.
2. Make reporters part of your personal and professional networks: become Facebook friends, invite people to become Facebook “fans” and Twitter followers.
3. Dedicate time every day to updating and maintaining your social media presence, making your media contacts aware of important business and industry news and articles, along with bloggers, Web sites and other “insider” resources they can use to inform readers.
4. Don’t neglect old-fashioned face time and telephone calls. Take advantage of informal “meetups” and other opportunities to connect outside of typical business “transactions.”
5. Be ever proactive, anticipating news and be ready to take immediate action.

What’s changed over the past decade? Building and maintaining a strong relationship with media professionals remains as important as ever. What’s changed primarily are the tools available, and the speed at which you are expected to respond.

A really good resource is the book “Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust” by Chris Brogan and Julian Smith. In addition to Chris Brogan, I’ve listed several other good marketing/public relations blogs in the “New Media” and “Eye on Marketing” sections of this blog (look to the right).

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(Photo credit: "News Reporter" by Truthout.org, courtesy of Flickr/Creating Commons)

NY Times Columnist: Twitter Is Here to Stay

Wondering why Twitter matters or why you should pay attention to it? Some excellent answers to those questions can be found in "Why Twitter Will Endure," by New York Times columnist David Carr.

Carr sums up the short and glorious history of the micro-blogging site, his own initial skepticism, and why it is succeeding -- exponentially.

"... Has Twitter turned my brain to mush? No, I’m in narrative on more things in a given moment than I ever thought possible, and instead of spending a half-hour surfing in search of illumination, I get a sense of the day’s news and how people are reacting to it in the time that it takes to wait for coffee at Starbucks."

I had Twitter running last night during the Rose Bowl (following various hashtags -- #rosebowl, #oregon, #goducks). It was fascinating to follow the flow of the game from the perspective of fans and media types worldwide, including many at the game. At times the number of tweets flowed faster than my computer could update them. Who needs TV anyway?

Why do I think I've become hooked on Twitter? Carr sums it up nicely:

On Twitter, anyone may follow anyone, but there is very little expectation of reciprocity. By carefully curating the people you follow, Twitter becomes an always-on data stream from really bright people in their respective fields, whose tweets are often full of links to incredibly vital, timely information. ... The best people on Twitter communicate with economy and precision, with each element — links, hash tags and comments — freighted with meaning. ...

Twitter is incredibly customizable, with little of the social expectations that go with Facebook. Depending on whom you follow, Twitter can reveal a nation riveted by the last episode of “Jersey Shore” or a short-form conclave of brilliance. There is plenty of nonsense — #Tiger had quite a run — but there are rich threads on the day’s news and bravura solo performances from learned autodidacts. And the ethos of Twitter, which is based on self-defining groups, is far more well-mannered than many parts of the Web — more Toastmasters than mosh pit.

See also:
Steven Johnson: "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live"
CommonCraft: "Twitter in Plain English"
Clay Shirky: "How Social Media Can Make History"
Oregonian: Portland Snowstorm Prompts Twitter Alerts
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Photo credit: "Time Cover Story: How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live" by steve garfield, courtesy of Flickr.com/Creative Commons

Websites You Need to Know About

What's hot online? Or at the least, what should you be in the know about, especially if you're in the media? Here to help with its annual checklist of online must-knows is The Guardian's "100 Essential Websites."

The creators note plenty of familiar players here -- Facebook, Twitter, Flickr -- as well as some we may be hearing more about in 2010, such as Tumblr, Posterous, Listorious, Spotify and Pitchfork.

As the article notes: "... The smash hit of 2009 has been (apologies: I know this will cause pain) Twitter, where 1,000-word stories are reduced to 140-character tweets. Short attention spans R us.

"Twitter's rapid growth and open programming interface have given the site a wide impact. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of ancillary sites and services have been launched to help Twitter users post pictures, track followers, or – more usefully, from a commercial point of view – find out what the "hive mind" is thinking."

And what about music?

"Music has been a significant player in the growth of the web since Napster, and its influence continues to grow. Spotify has made the biggest impact this year, gaining mindshare lost by Last.fm and Pandora. Meanwhile, Pitchfork has expanded its role as the web's authoritative music magazine, and The Hype Machine came to prominence as a source of instant erudition by tracking the music blogs."

The list has something for everyone, with categories ranging from microblogging, search and the link economy to gaming, film and celebrity gossip.

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Facebook, Twitter Revolution? NOT!

In this interesting TED talk, journalist Evgeny Morozov goes against the grain, suggesting that social networks don't necessary promote freedom and democracy, but in fact are a tool used by dictators and repressive regimes to solidify their power.

Morozov points to the Twitter "revolution" in Iran, for example, and notes that social networks made it easier for the government to keep tabs on the opposition rather than empowering Iranians to overthrow the ruling party.

"The KGB used to torture to get this information," he says at one point, "now it's all online."

It's an interesting point of view that deserves some consideration amid all the hoopla over social networking and it's role in social change.

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p.s. If you read this blog, you already know how much a fan I am of TED - Technology, Education, Design. See why by checking out the new list of video topics at TED.com.

Am I an Annoying Facebooker?

I post useful, interesting information on Facebook and should keep doing what I'm doing, according to a CNN.com quiz on using the social networking site. Yea for me.

Brandon Griggs has some fun identifying "The 12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers" in his CNN report, which includes a somewhat interesting video discussion of social networking and the aforementioned quiz.

Sadly, I think I have some "Town Crier" tendencies and occasionally become the "Self-Promoter." At least I'm not the "Sympathy-Baiter," and my friend count disqualifies me as a "Friend-Padder."

As Griggs notes:

Sure, Facebook can be a great tool for keeping up with folks who are important to you. Take the status update, the 160-character message that users post in response to the question, "What's on your mind?" An artful, witty or newsy status update is a pleasure -- a real-time, tiny window into a friend's life. But far more posts read like navel-gazing diary entries, or worse, spam.

Now that I have a name for the "Maddening Obscurist" and can effectively avoid the "Chronic Inviter," I vow to be better in not so harshly judging the "Bad Grammarian."

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p.s. Thanks, Lydia, for alerting me to this CNN item by way of Facebook, and providing fodder for a long-overdue blog update.

(Photo credit: "Facebook" by Scott Beale/Laughing Squid courtesy of Flickr.com)

Revolution in the Twittersphere

Fascinated by what's going on in Iran? BuzzMachine blogger Jeff Jarvis and Thomas Friedman of the New York Times offer a pair of useful commentaries on social networking vs. despotism.

In "The Virtual Mosque," Friedman writes:

What is fascinating to me is the degree to which in Iran today — and in Lebanon — the more secular forces of moderation have used technologies like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, blogging and text-messaging as their virtual mosque, as the place they can now gather, mobilize, plan, inform and energize their supporters, outside the grip of the state.

For the first time, the moderates, who were always stranded between authoritarian regimes that had all the powers of the state and Islamists who had all the powers of the mosque, now have their own place to come together and project power: the network. The Times reported that Moussavi’s fan group on Facebook alone has grown to more than 50,000 members. That’s surely more than any mosque could hold — which is why the government is now trying to block these sites.

Adds Jarvis:

Of course, Twitter - and Facebook and blogs and camera phones - alone cannot win a revolution. They cannot protect their users from government’s bullets and jails, as we have seen all to tragically in Iran. ... Fighting for freedom requires courage and risk we must not underestimate. But at least these tools allow allies to find each other and to let the world know of their plight. For thanks to the fact that anyone in the world - outside of North Korea - now has a printing press and a broadcast tower, they can be assured that the whole world is watching.

Also see:

• "How Twitter Creates Social Bonds with the Iranian Protesters" on Reportr.net.
• New York Times slide show
• Twitter Lessons on Revolution
• MediaShift on Iran's Citizen Journalists
  
• Twitter and Personal Branding
  

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(Photo credit: "Iran Protests for 5th Straight Day" by .faramarz, courtesy of Flickr.com)

First Twitter, Now Flutter

Be the first on your block to get in on Flutter, the "nanoblogging" ap that's sure to sweep the nation.

... and then there's ...

Watch Real Life Twitter on CollegeHumor

... and Twitter unites strangers on a train ...

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Who Needs Google When You Can Twitter?

So what's the big deal about Twitter? Mashable contributor Soren Gordhamer has some answers in "How Twitter Is Dethroning the Old Guard."

Gordhamer notes how the "next great social media site" may soon replace some of our most-used online actions, including searching for information, e-mail and even MySpace. He writes:

To the extent that Twitter will begin to truly rule these areas is unknown, but I think it’s hard to argue that it is not already having an impact.... Twitter is clearly riding the waves of our time, and could have an even more significant impact on social networks, search, and communication than it does today.

Noting the power of the Twitterverse, Gordhamer poses the question: Why look something up on Google when it's faster to get the answer from your Twitter followers? "As information becomes more social, Twitter provides both a community and a much more effective means of finding emerging news and content than Google does," he notes.

As for e-mail, its faster to send a tweet; and MySpace contains too many graphics and other information for a generation increasingly using mobile devices to connect.

Each day more of my students are signing up for and finding new uses for Twitter. It's time to devise a fun classroom experiment.

BONUS COVERAGE: Don't miss this list of Twitter "don'ts" by Sean Ludwig.

MORE BONUS COVERAGE: "Twitter's Hot, Sure, But What Does It All Mean?" by Peter Ames Carlin in The Oregonian.

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The Twouble with Twitter

Today in Media & Society we explored social networking. Students agreed that Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace can be great tools for staying in touch with friends, planning activities, publicizing events and making business and professional contacts.

Of course, they have their downsides as well, especially the incredible "time suck" that "just keeping in touch" can become. As part of our discussion, we enjoyed this parody of Twitter users on Current-SuperNews.

We got off to a happy start with "The Twitter Song" and the older ones among us, myself included, took heart that we are the fastest-growing demographic on Facebook. Yea for us!

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Nerd World: Facebook Is for Old Fogies

I suspected months ago that I was too old for Facebook. Not anymore! Old fogies have taken over the social networking site! That's according to Lev Grossman in his "Technoculture" blog on Time.com.

(I'll give LBCC journalism student Rick Casillas credit for dubbing Time.com "Nerd World" on his evolving site -- Mediocre Gatsby's Wild Publishing Party. Check it out.)

Anyway, Grossman delivers 10 reasons why Facebook is for old fogies, including:

4. Facebook isn't just a social network; it's a business network. And unlike, say, college students, we actually have jobs. What's the point of networking with people who can't hire you? Not that we'd want to work with anyone your age anyway.

or

10. We're not cool, and we don't care. There was a time when it was cool to be on Facebook. That time has passed. Facebook now has 150 million members, and its fastest-growing demographic is 30 and up. At this point, it's way cooler not to be on Facebook. We've ruined it for good, just like we ruined Twilight and skateboarding.

Watch out those of you under 30, we've got Twitter in our sights...
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J-students Make Waves with Social Media

Social media isn't just fun for today's college journalists, it's essential as they look to expand their skills as well as their portfolio. In a new post on MediaShift, journalism instructor Alfred Hermida shares how students are maximizing the reach and power of social media to do their journalism and build their personal brands as newspeople.

He writes: "Today's students should be building up their professional persona online through social media, creating a digital identity as an ambitious, engaged and curious reporter."

In addition to connecting with sources through Twitter, his students use their blogs as their "business card," showing off their professional as well as school work.

Hermida concludes:

"Being active online, sharing experiences and engaging with audiences is fundamental for students looking to enter journalism. It is even more important at a time when journalism students are uneasy about their job prospects. Budding journalists have always had to work hard to get themselves established. But the emergence of social media, through platforms such as Twitter, has added a new dimension to this, one that the reporters of tomorrow cannot afford to ignore."

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(Photo credit: "The Ultimate Blogger's Kit" by m-c, courtesy of Flickr.com)

Exploring the Media's Twitter Obsession

Why are journalists falling all over themselves trying to figure out Twitter? Because the social network is growing at epic pace, from alerting the world to breaking news to providing sources and a media audience.

In a MediaShift story, journalist Alana Taylor, a student at New York University, reports on a recent panel discussion, "Journalists and Social Media: Sources, Skills, and the Writer." MediaBistro organized the event. She writes:

"Journalists are obsessed with Twitter. Obsessed. They use it, talk about it, analyze it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, love it, hate it, capitalize on it, become experts on it, monetize it, argue about it, and become micro-famous on it. They are mesmerized with what it is and they are as giddy as Tom Cruise on Oprah just thinking about what it could be."

She goes on to share what panelists had to say about Twitter as a reporting tool and its place in the evolving media.

Attached to her story is this MediaBistro video featuring the panelists discussing social networking and the future of journalism.

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A Musical Welcome Back to Winter Term

Just got a heads up on this Twitter video that seems a fun way to start off Winter term.



Thanks to OSU new media professor Pam Cytrynbaum for passing this along.

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