When did business forget to be good?

Who hasn’t seen it (possible worked within it) time and again - businesses take advantage of things, use people and events - hell even make money doing both these things.  The thing I love about social media as that it doesn’t stand anymore.  People can spread the word and whistleblowers are rife.

From MP’s to Habitat, Dominos to Belkin all have found themselves on the beating end of the stick.   What did they all get wrong?  They con-municated.  They missed the mark, the audience and really talked the wrong talk after walking the wrong walk - some literally conning the audience.

But enough hyperbole, finger pointing and head-shaking – truth is we’re all learning and keeping up with changes as they happen. What have we learned?  Individually there were key issues in each that were the ‘OMG, did they really just do that’ moments.

1) RESPECT (don’t fear) social media and the distribution it offers information. 

2) BE good, be good and be good. (Hard, yes. Impossible? No.)

Make a mistake?  3) OWN it and move on.

LINKBAIT:

SHOCK : Measurement is a big, nay integral, part of online PR [Inst. For PR]

SEARCH : Using Ambiently – a smarter next step. [Ambiently]

READ: Why marketers Must Build Better Relationships with PR [Marketing Week]

AVOID : Doing any of these – somewhat obvious but great list [Times Union] 

Check out the handy tool from the smarter-than-I folks over at Ensembli – it’s basically a simple RSS, feed, aggregatory type thing that is aimed at the masses.

In their own (auto)magical words:

“Ensembli's technology scans, filters and collates stories, from across the web, that relate to your interests. The more you read, discard, or even ignore the stories Ensembli finds, the more it'll be able to locate the stories that you'll really like. Just to be extra clever, as your tastes change, Ensembli will be able to automagically keep up with you!”

It’s only as good as you make it!

@munkyfonkey / @themediaisdying

LINKBAIT :

COMPARE : New (or maybe not) Yahoo!  Looks similarly busy to me! [TechCrunch]

READ : Survey says push the envelope with ads on Social Networks. [Mashable]

JUDGE (!): UK Twitter users are not buying. [Hitwise]

Now that IIIIIIIS interesting.  Facebook offering streaming video (via uStream) and flipping up status updates.  Enquiring minds might ask where is all this heading (and no it’s not because they are scared of Twitter).   Why should PR pros care? 

Simple.  Distribution (although we all know that doesn’t come without it’s issues).  Get live wrong and you’re up sh!t creek without oars… and friends.  But get it right and you’ve just found a way to access 222 million more potential customers/delegates/voters (when opened up – currently it’s for bands/musicians only) for your event, speech (helloooooo politicians – David Cameron - are you listening?!).  Perfect for rallies, spreading news or dare I say it… a regular news program on Twitter?  Yowza.

Why now? Easier (controllable) updates and streaming video equals more time on site and eyeballs – things advertisers love to gobble up and put dollars against.

Bra-vo.  Smart move Facebook. 

With the sad news of mass layoffs over at MySpace (Disclaimer : I previously worked for MySpace) these two additions mean Facebook is fast cementing itself as more of a platform than ever before although perhaps with the addition of live streaming we should be too quick to throw away the network tag either.

@munkyfonkey / @themediaisdying

LINKBAIT:

INTERESTING: What was meant to save time, actually costing us more [BuzzNetworker]

Poor old AP – they can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to social media these days can they?   Now it seems they are to be dragged over the coals about their social media policy after a bit of a heavy handed roll out but y’know I can’t really blame them – they are a big corporate entity with as much stuff (if not more) to protect as the next man.  So what went wrong?

Fundamentally, know your audience (employees are your first one), but more so the issue is that the way business has to operate has changed and big business hasn’t caught up.  No longer do people feel part of the machine – they see the connections (real or implied) and they feel like they have the right to blah about it to the world.  That’s a problem because now ‘the world’ quite literally can be the world.  The AP failed to get a thumbs up because it chose to approach the ‘launch’ like more big corporations do does and that, these days, pisses people off.  Especially if it appears to encroach on free speech and people’s passions (i.e. themselves).  All this said I’m not sure if policing your own feed for others’ content to protect your company is a reasonable request – although I think it should be a personal choice. 

Personally speaking, most social media policies I have had the…pleasure (?!) of being a part of hinged on three main points:

·      If it makes you look stupid : don’t put it online.

·      If it makes the company look stupid : don’t post it online.

·      If you aren’t sure : don’t put it online.

Lesson learned?  Social media is personal, when communications are being handed down – make sure it comes across like that – hand it down don’t shove or throw it.  Don’t put it out in an email - especially a formal one.  Agreed it’s a legal document but summaries aren’t – part of the job of ccomms is (somewhat) to sugar-coat harsh realities.  Perhaps say the document is a work-in-progress, you’re looking for feedback (boy did the AP get it!) or, and I’m going out on a limb here (gulp) admit you don’t know everything and that whatever you have isn’t perfect but it’s what you’ve got for right now. 

@munkyfonkey / @themediaisdying

LINKBAIT:

CHECK : Glassdoor : A way for employees to get info or get even? [Glassdoor]

READ : MMORPG demographics / psychographics [The Metric System]

THINK : Tabbed search – is it the future? I can haz tabs! [Popixy]

Risking abuse by the (anonymous) blessed few who may deem it necessary to charge , shall we say, slightly more than nothing for monitoring what’s predominantly freely available to anyone with eyes and ears, AND since you have Twitter search pretty much licked, I have put together a (not particularly earth-shattering, in no particular order, but quite nice to have it all in one place) top 10 list of top social media monitoring tools that cost you…time and effort which, as we all know, are things us PR folk like to refer to as and turn into money.

Let me know what you think and which ones I have missed in the comments!

Paul

@munkyfonkey / @themediaisdying

IMAGE SOURCE

Sh!ccount : An email account you just use for signing up to new products, newsletters and services.  I recommend any of them (Yahoo, Hotmail etc) although Gmail can be a bit daunting if you are used to folders.

Google Alerts : Include spelling errors of your terms – rushed people make mistakes or perhaps your brand can be split.  Set them up hourly or daily if you’re (sniff) feeling overwhelmed.  Oh and then read them.  [Alternative : Social Mention]

Nutshell : This is genius – it smashes in Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, email, LinkedIn and a whole host of other products into… wait for it… one email which can be sent hourly to your account.  Bingo.  Firehose managed.

Backtype : This puppy allows you to go deep into the world of forums and discussion boards.  Put down the Muller light for lunch this is serious stuff.  Watch. Listen.  Repeat.  Watch out for trolls.

Lexicon : Think Twitter search but for the 222 million Facebook users out there. 

Spy : This sucker is pretty new on the scene (i.e. less than six months old!) are has caused quite a stir because it measures more than most (including Flickr, Friendfeed etc).  Not a huge fan of the UI but hey it’s free and it does what it says on the tin.  Sold.

Yahoo! Pipes : This thing looks like it should be left well to the nerds but trust me it’s a diamond service.  Once you get past the daunting terminology and realize you are just pushing information around and filtering it - you realize it’s actually the key to you keeping your hair and tabs on all those celebrity blogs you don’t read at work. 

Addictomatic : Basically this badboy gives you a snapshot of what’s going on with a certain search term on Bing, Yahoo, Google, DIGG and about 10 others… ON ONE PAGE.  Amazing – snapshot and no metrics but great for crisis work and quick assessments.

Google : Including blogs, news etc it’s still one of your first stops in listening.

Compete : Great for monitoring traffic trends.  Quantcast is another great resource for monitoring shift in audience and demographics.

LINKBAIT:

WATCH: Nurse Jackie (because it’s just awesome writing) [TV Shack]

LEARN: How the Guardian worked their social mojo on the scandal ‘experiment’ [Guardian]

SEE: The future of British plugs… bub-bye laptop bloat.  AMEN. [Engadget]

SOURCE

Amen.  Twitter stops auto-follow and thwarts ‘gamers’ (for now at least).

Not that anyone who would read this blog would even CONSIDER bloating their Twitter friend counts of course, but if you were that sort of person (and I don’t recommend you start) you might want to think twice because Twitter is about to outlaw those bad practices and start deleting offenders accounts. 

How are they growing them?  It’s simple really – follow a sh!t ton of people and then un-follow the one’s that don’t follow you back.  Rinse and repeat.  [Meercat voice] Siiiimple.    

I know why people do it but personally speaking, I’ve never really seen the point (or real-world results) of gaming Twitter this for a number of reasons but the main one is that three people can be more influential than three million if the last three million aren’t sharers?  Why not just offer um… really great content?!

What do you think?  Do you agree that auto-follow should be banned?  Comment below or tweet me @munkyfonkey / @themediaisdying

LINKBAIT:

Scoopler : real-time search (6/10 – IMHO) [Scoopler]

The difference between strategy and tactics. [B.L. Ochman]

A super simple way to ‘create’ content and push it around networks. [Amplify]

Future of reporting?  NYT pulls in Tweets, videos and eye-witness accounts from Tehran [NYTimes]

-       ------ TAKEAWAY  - Are you offering journalists everything you can?

[Image source : http://socialentrepreneurship.change.org]

Hopefully there’s not a lot of egg-sucking going on here (I don’t think so after speaking to a ton of people recently but you never know so apologies upfront if you are tasting eggs).  I’m only doing the first 5, 6 – 10 are up to you – I’ll publish the full list once completed.

What’s YOUR top tip?

Some sense.  Know that nothing has fundamentally changed – humans still have two eyes, ears and hands.  They are however choosing to use them differently.  That’s the key.

The right hardware – (at least) two monitors – three if you include the mobile one.  One to work and one to um…monitor. A digital camera and/or camcorder (cough: Flip cam).  Capture everything – maybe even take a course / one day seminar so you know the basics.

The facts.  Numbers change every month – look for trends.  Is it a blip or is there genuine traction?

A scrappy mindset.  Get Guerilla.  Try things.  Consult clients to do the same. People are people, they aren’t corporations - they don’t think in the same way.  Baby steps if necessary but step and step boldly. (HT to Ged for PDF)

Perspective.  Twitter is a prime example. Huge.  Yes.  Big as Facebook?  Hell no. Best apps?  If you have multiple accounts then rock on with Tweetdeck (granted not the only client out there but with the recent upgrades it’s the best IMHO).  If just monitoring check out the new Tweettabs or Monnitor.  Both spankingly free and simple to use.   More of Twitter (I know you’re shocked, right) (Although lookout for the coming review of coTweet).

LINKBAIT:

Facebook offering new search options to rival Twitter [Mashable]

Reactions to ‘Digital Britain’ [Netimperative]

Social News : Defined and explained [Baekdal] 

Welcome to ‘Don’t Fear The Firehose’ (or DFTF because I realize now that  typing that all the time is going to get old quickly).  The title was ‘inspired by’ (cough: ripped off from) a book by this guy – I highly recommend you buy it but if you aren’t feeling that charitable you could just as easily read it here, for free, right now (tip your Google!).

This is a no bullsh!t social media blog written FOR pros by a (not that old) pro.  My name is Paul Armstrong and for the past six years I have been in LA working in-house (at MySpace), at agencies large and small on clients with huge budgets to no-budgets.  I’ve worked on some of the biggest brands and brands that’ll never be heard of because that’s the way they wanted it.  Before you roll your eyes and start typing ‘Perez Hilton’ into the search bar (did I mention I’ve worked in PR?) let me double underline this won’t be your run-of-the-mill social media blog.   I created/run @themediaisdying after all.  It’ll have real advice, spelling-errors, tips, best practices, key takeaways, grammar like you’ve never seen, hints and plenty of research/stats for those thrilling PowerPoints you know clients just L.O.V.E. to sit through (as much as you love making them).

So with the obligatory awkward first post out of the way, and in the spirit of the whole firehose theme, let’s be having it! What do you want to know – what don’t you want to know?  What’ll be most helpful to you? Hit me up anytime at the (imaginative) email address : prweekblog@gmail.com

It’s like voting – you can’t b!tch if you don’t go.  I’m ready.  Are you?

PS – If you are the stalking kind – here’s the links for you to have a proper nose around: 

Twitter (personal)

Themediaisdying

Facebook

LinkedIn