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Mar 08 2010

Rockin the Tweets: Twitter Tools, Twitter Lists, Stats, Discovery #Twitter

Category: code is poetry,community building,connections,how do i?,lifestreaming,social media,tools — jmacofearth @ 8:13 am

Screen shot 2010 03 06 at 4.08.06 PM Rockin the Tweets: Twitter Tools, Twitter Lists, Stats, Discovery #TwitterSo all the BUZZ around Google Buzz seems to be around simplicity and not having too many followers or having too much noise due to those followers. Here's something I want to let you know. It's not the tool (twitter vs buzz vs facebook) it's how you manage it. So here's a few ideas I'd like to share around managing your social media status-sphere. It really doesn't matter if you are trending towards Buzz over Twitter. What matters is how you use it.

First up: Twitter Lists.

What are they? Why you need 'm. And why your Tweetdeck or Hootsuite lists are different.

Here is my page of Twitter list links: http://uber.la/tools/twitter-lists

So what I would like to ask you, as you are starting to re-frame your social media accounts is this, "If I can't add you to one of my Twitter lists I probably shouldn't be following you in the first place."

There is a 500 tweep limit for Twitter lists. So beyond that you will have to create 2nd and 3rd lists to keep your "austin friends"  together in your lists. You will notice I have an "austin friends" and an "austin friends 2" lists. This is not an indication of favoratism, but merely a reaching of the Twitter List 500 tweep maximum. I suspect I will be giving up my "tennis" list or my "cats and dogs" list in the future to build an "austin friends 3" list. But not today. (grin)

RULE of TWITTER ADDITION: before you click "follow" figure out what list you are going to add someone to and then do both. 1. Follow; 2. Add To List.

RULE of TWITTER SUBTRACTION: if you are following someone and you can't put them on a list, perhaps you should consider unfollowing them. 1. Examine who you follow; 2. Add all "friends" to a list; 3. UF, unfollow everyone you cannot place on one of your lists. (Why were you following them in the first place?)

Next: Twitter Tools

Fact: You can't manage Twitter on Twitter.com. You need tools. Aside from the Twitter Tools Matrix, here is the shortlist for Twitter clients I recomend.

1. Tweetdeck; 2. Seesmic; 3. Hootsuite. And more recently, a Mac-only favorite is Nambu.

Next: Twitter Stats and Analytics

While following and being followed in Twitterville is interesting, almost as interesting and potentially more valuable is the tools that allow you to see what people are tweeting about. Example: during the SuperBowl 2010 the hashtags #nfl and #superbowl and #superbowlads were quite popular with tweeters who were rating the advertisements that were paying over a million dollars per 30 sec. slot. So if your ad didn't "trend" within these hashtags you can bet the audience mostly ignored it, or forgot about it. And there were a number of unremarkable ads.

TERM: "Trending." When something is trending on Twitter it means the Tweet volume is so large that it is showing up as one of the top twenty most frequent words being tweeted.

So what tools are my most used when looking at Twitter trends? Here are my top Twitter stats and analytics tools.

1. TwitterVenn (making Venn diagrams out of trends is fun and easy); 2. TwitterFall (a visual browser for seeing hashtags and searches) ; 3. Twitter Trends Map (see the topics that are trending worldwide);

Finally: Twitter Discovery Tools

Finding new people to follow, new trends to track and new hashtags to search for is all part of the beauty of Twitter.

1. Mr. Tweet (who you follow and who they recommend); 2. FriendorFollow (are they following you back?); 3. NearbyTweets (how's close to you and tweeting?); 4. Twittoria (information about your flock)

Take the time to add value to your Tweets. Don't just follow to gain followers. If you can't put them on a Twitter List, don't follow them. Lists will become the new marker of Twitter Authority.

No, you can't ask me to add you to a list. I must discover you and add you manually. Yes, you can ask me, but I'm likely to… consider it first.

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/rule-twitter

See also:

Finally an amazing image of some of the visualization tools linked off of VisualComplexity.

Explaining complex ideas with images and maps

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Jan 16 2010

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: If You Can't Say Something Nice… Well, Shout It

Category: community building,lifestreaming,social media,tech opinion,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 5:05 am

ben stiller and ironman in tropical thunderPeople call it going negative. Others understand that people don't forward a boring email or promote a vanilla digg. Well, think about it, do you?

IMFHO – If you aren't falling you aren't learning. If you don't loose followers on a regular basis, then they are not paying attention and you are not making yourself clear. I am not for everyone, call it an acquired taste; Like a David Letterman (the 80s – 90s version, before he got bitter and regretful) or the Onion, either you get me or you don't. And if you don't follow, that's cool. If you block me, I might ask why (@omarg I understand, @LaniAR, I don't understand) and then follow up with an "I'm sorry" if appropriate or a "Sounds fair" if I disagree with you.

But… And here's where the kid gloves come off: If you attack me (long form or short form) be prepared to defend yourself. And not just from a flame war, from facts, figures, references, documents, historical participation on social media sites like LINKEDIN, and mainly your own content. Where do you put your attention? What is it that you are constantly going on about?

I'll give you my top 3 from that little list over there >>> to the right.

#1 social media
#2 tech reviews and opinion
#3 about me
(verify these counts in a second before publishing…)  ;-0 )

And I've done a bunch of posts on sentiment, or how negative am I really. Maybe I need to update the meter, but I'm pretty up and happy and on the sunny side of things. Until I'm down. Then I see dark clouds overhead, I rant a bit, and I go dark myself and don't surface for days.

What I discovered at Dell and occasionally in social media was it doesn't really matter if your right. And though I may not like it, sometimes it may not be appropriate to go directly to the person who is having the conflict with you. (At Dell, I'm pretty sure it was a legal thing, an ethics thing, a sensitivity thing.) Okay, so don't go direct with the person, talk to their manager. And don't drop the f-bomb. EVER!

As a wrap, let's take one example of where jumping in with guns blazing (Well, my guns weren't hot until I was attacked after the first post.) was seen as inappropriate by some, offensive and worthy of counter strikes by others, accurate and praiseworthy by a few, and privately praised by many. And some of those private supporters, those who PM'd me on LinkedIN to say, "Keep it up." finally commented on the thread themselves. This particular thread demonstrates how even a former victim can become a supporter of the abuser if it's in the best interest of the victim.

Now I am not saying I'm right, or that my techniques and linguistic dexterity is always ON or appropriate. What I am saying, is that if you say something back it up with Passion AND Facts. If you attack, be prepared to meet the social media ninja.

And don't drop the f-bomb. EVER!

@jmacofearth
permalink: http://bit.ly/goingnegative

    [As a response to some of the comments here, and more so the comments I got as part of the LinkedIN viral discussion, I have launched a NING community site to rally around the best ways to deal with TROLLS who attack. And more importantly the Trolls who threaten. Please join us at Social Media is Not Hate (Ning) You might be member #2!]

    The whole post thread. Watch for Trolls along the path, cause they are hoppin mad today!

    Nice Shot – How long's it been since you've seen the Matrix?
    Social Media Proves Successful as ROI for Business, LinkedIN Group Flames On
    Challenge ROI, Challenge the Model, but Social Media Means Real Business
    Social Media Being Challenged: CRAP? For Business? Really?
    A Bit 'o Humor at the Experts Expense: The SEO Expert said to the SM Expert
    The Red Badge of Courage: Haiti Needs Everyone's Help (JAN 19-10 update 5)
    My MLK Manifesto 2010: I have a dream… I wish social media could be used to…
    A Pirate's Life for Meeeee: Now about this Duck Song Thing? (Waddle Waddle Waddle)
    Crazy Little Thing Called Love: If You Can't Say Something Nice… Well, Shout It
    Drawing the Circles Around LinkedIN Contacts – Social Media for Business of Any Size
    Does LinkedIN Create Business via Social Media Networking?
    LinkedIN Gets Social: Is it Viral or CRAP? You Decide.

      The Twitter Way (a gathering of all the Uber.la Twitter posts)
      Twitter Lists (my list making on Twitter – you need to understand and WORK Twitter lists)
      TwitterTools (the Twitter Matrix of apps and sites to make your tweeting more productive and fun)

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      Apr 17 2009

      Fire Everything! – Twitter Facebook LinkedIN Convergence – What's Okay What's Not

      Category: community building,connections,executive learnings,facebook fails,lifestreaming,social media,speed the web,tech opinion,tools,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 9:44 am

      Star Trek Trailer has a great moment where the bad guy, who seems to be getting pummeled screams "Fire Everything."

      So how does this play in your Social Media engagement world? Some questions for reflecting on how you engage with "community" and what type of conversationalist you are.

      1. Do you run into a party and yell, "HEY EVERYBODY, I'VE ARRIVED!"

      2. How often do you update your Facebook status?

      3. Do you use IM/Chat on Facebook? What services are you connected to? And when do you open them?

      4. Do you have different social networks/sites for different purposes?

      5. What is your most relevant profile on the web? So if I Googled your name (which I'm doing right now as you read this) what is the most important piece of information YOU want me to have about you?

      6. What is good Twitter etiquette? And do you have different habits for your Facebook page or LinkedIN page?

      7. Age old social media bait question: Do you keep your personal and professional social media information separated? Do you think it is helpful to imagine a separation even if Googling will not filter them for anyone else?

      +++

      Now I will try and answer the questions in my opinion. (IMO = in my opinion OR IMHO = in my humble opinion, which it is rarely humble, but I'm working on that)

      1. I don't enter a room and try and dominate the presence. So you might consider how you enter conversations. Even asynchronous conversations. (asynchronous example: commenting and posting on social media sites) An senior citizen once told me, "Take a while to get to know us before you speak." That is the best social media advice you will get all year.

      2. Facebook or LinkedIN status updates. The question came out of a philosophical question I posed to a friend this morning as we were talking about online stuff. "So if I started using Tweetdeck to update my FB status (now possible) every time I tweeted, would that be cool or not cool?"

      The answer was, "Definitely not cool."

      The reasoning was about how Facebook or LinkedIN have been used in the past. Neither of us use FB or L-In for "chat" or conversation. At least not at the "status" level. But… Everything is changing. The sites and tools are changing. Twitter is changing FB and LinkedIN. (Maybe not for the better, but that is for you to decide.)

      So would it be gaming the FB world to update my status 15 times a day. (that's my average tweet output) At the moment I would have to say yes. But the newest Tweetdeck has added a check box to do just that. Contemplating.

      3. I don't like chat on FB. Not sure why, but the FB "friends" are not necessarily the "close" contacts that I want to be available to via IM/chat. So for the most part, when I am on FB proper (as in browsing the FB site) I keep my "chat" feature off, by showing my status as "offline." But I'm might be online, I'm just not that into you. Or some other FB "friend."

      But Adium, my multi-service IM client (now I can even add my skype to it) allows me to connect to FB and LinkedIN chat using the one interface. But… I don't like it. I think I will disconnect my FB IM info from Adium. I had to do so with Skype cause I was getting too much noise. And I will admit that I am opening Adium or IM less and less. Currently less than once a day. So if you wanna ping me you'd be best of sending an email. (yep, remember that old thang?) Twitter maybe, but I don't really stay on Twitter either.

      4. Different Sites for Different Functions (NOT in order of priority)

      1. LinkedIN (business and contact info)
      2. Twitter (social interaction, networking, research, quick feedback)
      3. Facebook (for fun, apps and groups are mostly play)
      4. inSocialMedia.com (I was invited to be an editor of this professional SM network and it seems to be thriving)
      5. Uber.la (my blog and voice to the world)
      6. TwitterJoker Network (just having fun at Twitter's expense)
      7. MeterThis! (a blog I started a little over a week ago to groundswell against Time Warner's bandwidth capping plans)
      8. iGoogle (my own RSS dashboard and search engine)
      9. Posterous (an alternative blog platform where I am experimenting with poetry, music and more "best of" type posting)
      10. Tweetdeck (not really a site, I know, but tell that to Seesmic or Peoplebrowsr, so it feels like a site that's wrapped in AIR)

      5. My consolidated profile page on uber.la, but I am building that one to serve this function. If I had to pick one, I'd have to go with LinkedIN. Cause in the end, social media is fun but it's about business to me.

      6. Twitter Ettiquette. I'm actively working on this question at Getting Real with Twitter. On FB and LinkedIN, I'd say between 1 – 3 status updates a day would be a max.

      7. Good luck if you are trying to keep them separate. But the best piece of advice I've seen on this topic is this. Don't post it, tweet it, IM it, email it to ANYONE unless you are comfortable with it being on the front page of YOU.COM. Cause ultimately those drunk date pics are going to find their way back to haunt you, like they did the stars of High School Musical and Pamela Anderson.   Just don't do it.

      @jmacofearth
      permalink: http://bit.ly/fire-everything

      Check out the Facebook Fails Index
      And the mother of it all: The F-Bomb and F-Book: The F-Book Manifesto! [Facebook = F-Book]

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      Jan 10 2009

      THE new Formula for Social Media Success – Available Now

      Category: community building,connections,executive learnings,trust & reputation — jmacofearth @ 5:47 pm

      – This post is a response to Larry Hawes post: The Seven “C”s of Social Interaction –

      Humor me for a sec, I'm going to think out loud…

      Conversations – well this is the topic, so I'd cut it
      Continuum – like the word, I'm not clear what you mean
      Container – don't like the word, but okay on this one
      Community I think this is the topic, so I'd scratch this one.
      Currency – "one person desires something that another has" [let's come back to this one in a sec]
      Credibility – the biggie to me – I use the word TRUST
      Connectivity – nice, multiple meanings [physical connection via internet; connection to another person via the conversation]

      I'm going to take a shot at simplifying the "framework" if I can.

      Platform
      People
      Trust

      or at a start up I once labored at we rallied around the formula to "make it scale":

      People
      Process
      Software

      In order to evaluate the power/value of a social interaction I think the focus is on the "connection." And when I think of major connection I think of looking in someone's eyes and evaluating what I call the "connect." [Nice how that fit together.]

      Online of course, we will be interacting and trying to connect with folks we have never met and may never meet. At the heart of this tension is trust. The software/platform can help, a skype connection could help, but at the end of the day, even my "friend" will have to ask themselves, "what's in this for me?" I think that's our basic instinct. And certainly as things have tightened up financially, the "how does this impact the bottom line?" question is becoming more urgent.

      So to summarize a simplified formula I would express it like this.

      People [multiplied by] Platform [divided by] each Individual's ability to express themselves during the connection [minus] Misses or clash of style that degrades the communication.

      So a simplified social media equation might be written like this:

      P x P / I – M =  T [trust ratio of a connection/community]

      [Oh, hey, I've got to get out of here, I need to get some t-shirts printed with this new formula on them. I'll send you the link to the order form when I'm done. SEE BELOW. ;-) ]

      So, Larry, thanks starting the dialogue. And if I get any money off these t-shirts I'm working on, I'll give you 9.7% of the profits after tax. [based on the above formula and this interaction that we've just had]

      @jmacofearth
      permalink: http://bit.ly/socialmedia-formula
      Now available at cost ($10.99) as a t-shirt from Cafe Press.

      The Formula T-Shirt

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      social media innovation group

      future posts

      ∴ A Collaborative Space: WebEx, Go-To-Meeting, Skype, Basecamp (Teaming/Meeting Tools)
      ∴ Mapping Your Own Social Media Genome: Managing the Parts as a Whole
      ∴ The Agile Mind: Construction, Evolution, Care, and Feeding Instructions for Mental Flexibility

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