Face Your Fear of Technology By Being Yourself

Facebook and Twitter, along with other digital media sites have one thing in common. They are all just tools.

They are networks of real-live people.

You seek out the ones who already know you, who are already your disciples, who are like-minded, have the same interests, and perhaps friends of those individuals. You would treat them the same as you would in a face-to-face environment: with respect.

+David Meerman Scott describes social media brilliantly in his book The New Rules of Marketing and PR. He likens social media to a cocktail party. You wouldn't go to a real event and start (spamming) feature-dumping and "buy my stuff" your business to anyone who will listen, even if you just met. Or would you? Or would you be someone hiding in the corner with your face to the wall, hoping no one will talk to you? That reflects the people who set up profiles and then never engage or visit their networks.

You will have the best time at the cocktail party when you take the time to say hello (connect), get to know other guests (see what others have posted, like and make a positive comment on their feed), and share good stories (make your own posts interesting and ones that will elicit engagement).

When it comes to working the networks to promote your brand, think like a content creator, not like a content consumer.

Armchair Sports Has Become Interactive

This is my favorite example of how to watch UFC and other sports live -- with Twitter peeps and offering periodic updates on Facebook and Google Plus.

What you don't see in this screenshot is the two television sets I had on at the same time: likely one with Hockey Night in Canada, the other with NCAA college football.

Watching sports with my social peeps has become a new way of life, especially during big events, such as an Olympic Winter Games gold medal hockey game, the NFC conference final, or the BCS championship game.

It's like having everyone in your own living room. Sometimes a new guest will appear, as in the case of Twitter, when you search the hashtag and engage a conversation with a fellow viewer.

The Internet and social media has really made our world more social -- and global, even when just watching a game.

My Typewriter Works Just Fine

I may have actually used this line back in the early 1990s when the personal computer was all the rage and the Internet was becoming populous. Back then, it was Yahoo over Google.

As a writer getting published in the local newspapers and national magazines, I actually prided myself on being loyal to the typewriter. It's not that much work to revise, I said. I completed two book manuscripts on the typewriter, I'd proudly state. Meanwhile, my friends and colleagues would look at me as if I had a third head.

Then I noticed the freelance gigs were drying up. Editors wanted their stories emailed, not faxed. They wanted the electronic files. It wouldn't have mattered if I were a Pulitzer Prize winner.

So what I did was stay late at my day job and type out articles for my local editor, download them on a floppy disk, and drive the disk over to his office. Accompanying these stories were also photographs, which I had to take to a certain developer that was under contract by the paper, when they were ready, pick them up and drive them over to the editor. That's a lot for one story and doesn't even include the face-to-face interview with the subject.

Soon I broke down and got a computer.

Now I could write the stories at home, load them on the floppy disk and drive them over to my editor. I was terrified of the Internet and all its evil viruses and trolls. I still had to make those two trips to the photofinishing place.

Finally, I had enough. This is WAY too much work. I saw how the computer was incomparable to the typewriter. Oh my God, what was I thinking! Now a new world opened up and I could email the story and save myself a trip across the city (except for the photofinishing place).

I've never looked back.

Now I see the same thing happening, only with Internet media. People are terrified to learn the social networks, to ditch their traditional methods for more advance ones. If it isn't already, it will soon impact their business. They will see opportunities dry up. Why? People want to be communicated with in the platform of their choice, not yours.

Sadly, few educational institutions are teaching this because the curriculum, administrators, and teachers have been schooled from a previous era and either haven't deemed learning it is important or there isn't enough qualified personnel to teach it. 

But graduates are experimenting the impact of not knowing this. Some are finding it difficult to find work, no matter how many degrees are behind their name. Quite frankly, if you have an MBA in marketing and public relations, I personally can't hire you unless you are well versed in and actually participate in Internet media. Businesses are hiring the person with the degree because they are desperately hoping they will help them catch up with the times. However, because too many are being taught how to use Internet media badly, businesses feel justified in not needing to move forward because "they tried Facebook and it didn't work."  

Here are some comments from recent grads that show the state of where we are today:

"Everything is going digital now and people need to learn how use it, or eventually we will have another epidemic of illiteracy... but this time with smart devices."

"I'm a recent college graduate, and I probably would not be able to take over a social media campaign with just the knowledge I got from my courses. All I learned was textbook information on what marketing was. A lot of the marketing/communication jobs also expect some Adobe program skills along with web design. In addition to that, many relevant jobs require some sort of analytic experience with social media and SEO practices. But I didn't learn any of that! My marketing courses had me create marketing campaigns, but we ignore the evaluation part of the plans, which I think is one of the most important part of marketing. Knowing how your marketing campaign turns out and how to measure the success is so important today."

"The educational system appears deeply divided in America. I meet some people who have graduated college, but you wouldn't know it unless they told you, because they are dumber than a box of rocks! I think some of the private colleges and for profit schools are churning out worthless degrees. Simply having a degree doesn't make the person fit for the job. The real question is whether or not that candidate has the required skills to get the job done! Technology changes incredibly fast so we have to keep up."

I plan on doing my part to try and bridge these alternate universes. At least if I can arm people with a general understanding of the platforms and how to make them work -- also steer them from the bad advice they're already getting from those non-experts, perhaps graduates will be well versed before they enter the workforce and it will ease the frustration you hear in the comments above.

Do You Have A Name In Social Networks?

The Artist Formerly Known As Prince

Findability is something we should probably think about when we are picking a Twitter handle, Skype name, or Facebook page.

If you've ever been in Foresquare, you'll notice very few people use their full name. Add to the fact that a lot of them don't use their own image. It's just a tad frustrating when you are trying to find people to connect with--or if they try to connect with you.

Karen with the kitten avatar and no explanation--who the heck are you?

When a lot of us first joined Twitter, using a crazy name or a different avatar seemed kind of clever, in our own minds. The thing is, the longer you use it, the more connections you have, the more you are stuck with it. It doesn't always make sense when you switch your personal use of Twitter to professional later on.

It's the same with an email address.

If you set up your profiles in 2009, chances are it is too late to change. You are stuck with it. You can change your avatar, but not your name. They are all taken.

Why is this a big deal? (Hey, I'm no better. My other gmail is gridironchick.)

Lately, I cleaned out my two Twitter accounts, unfollowing a host of followings that were not serving me any value. (Their day-to-day activities about having a coffee and putting the kids to bed did not interest me as much as the meaty information and links I get from others.) That exercise took some time and the one thing I noticed was that identifying people was a crap shoot if they didn't use their name, their likeness, and especially if they did not post any information about who they were. Zap! If they protected their tweets, zap! Please. Anything you have to say cannot be that interesting that you have to put a lock on it. Stay out of social networks then and don't waste our time. Just saying.

It felt good to clean house and fine-tune the followers that were more specific to the purpose of each of my Twitter pages.

I'm using a similar philosophy in Google Plus. Instead of blanket following everyone, although I still do that to a certain degree, if someone is not giving me anything worth looking at, or continually posts offensive content, I feel no guilt whatsoever in zapping them.

However, if I've zapped someone I knew and liked because I couldn't identify them by their avatar or name, please accept my apologies.

Online Media or Social Media?

Perspective is a funny thing.

For most of us who live in cyberspace, the answer is obvious. However, too many think that social media equals online media, digital media, or Internet media. While the last three are the same in my eyes, to another, one may not be like the other. Digital media means web design to universities and a web guy. Just like some web people think graphic design applies to them, too. Tell that to people who produce books.

Social media is all of the above, but not visa versa. Online media/digital media/Internet media include social media but they also include:

• Webinars
• Podcasts
• Video sites
• Blogs
• Online media
• Online articles
• Online press releases
• Virtual launch parties
• Online gaming
• Apps
• Mobile communications (i.e. text)
• Skype
• Online conferencing
• Instant messaging
• Google ads
• Pop-up ads
• Wikipedia
• Discussion boards
• Photography sharing sites, such as Flickr, Instagram
• Websites

There are many more elements to add, including those we haven't even invented yet.

Social media is one ball on the Christmas tree and the above are the rest of the decorations that hang on it. Social media sites are also a relationship-building sites that can incorporate the rest of the balls on the tree and visa versa.