Book Chat - Chapters 2 and 3

In these chapters, the focus is on how people are changing their behavior based on the use of social media.  Please give your reaction to chapters two and three by answering some of the following questions.

1. What about your individual brand is more clear through social media?  What do people know about you that they might not learn from you in person?  What insight might this give an employer who is considering hiring you?
2. I love these two sentences, "Companies need to focus on giving content or a tool with utility and purpose to consumers, which is the opposite of traditional marketing, which consumers historically hated.  Instead of providing end consumers with a potentially empty promise, as was the case with traditional marketing, companies need to focus on supplying something of value."  What companies give you something of value that makes you want to engage with them?
3. The author talks about marketing executives being married to email because of the database information they can use and glean through email.  However, since customers are moving away from email, how will companies build their databases in the future?
4. Bill Tily, an 83 year old man, made a habit of reviewing his social media statuses and then identified what he was doing that was an "unfruitful activity".  What would you find if you reviewed a month of Tweets or status updates?  How might your life be more full as a result of these changes?
5. At the end of chapter 3, the author makes the claim that we all like having something to brag about, and people and companies will alter their behavior to be more interesting.  Do you think people alter their behavior to be more interesting?  Why or why not?

Book Chat 1: Socialnomics

I hope you all have a start on the first chapters of Socialnomics and are starting to look at what role social media can play in our consumer behavior.

Here are the questions for Chapter 1.  You do not need to respond to each question, but do give your thoughts and impressions after reading the chapter.  Here are some questions to help you get started.

1. How can "investing time in social media" make you more productive?  Do you think your productivity (at least in some areas) is improved through the use of social media?
2. What do you think of the Sally scenario?  Have you ever had a similar conversation via social media?  Have you asked for product/service recommendations from friends or followers?
3. How did the blog scenarios in the chapter impact your perceptions of blogging?
4. What did you think of the bacon sat story?  Do you know of other brands that started with social media?

Memes on Facebook

Every time I the words "only my true friends..." on a Facebook status, I cringe.  It's not that I don't care about animal shelters (look at my vet bills, I definitely do), people with cancer/MS/ADD/dyslexia, missing children, or the like, but in my mind a great cause is demeaned when reduced to a meme Facebook status.

This is a great study conducted by a researcher at the University of Michigan on the characteristics of Facebook memes.  It's humorous and insightful too.

Are you a memer?

Magic and Mashcon

Mickey and Pete Cashmore, CEO of Mashable

This past weekend I had the fantastic opportunity to attend the Mashable Connect 2011 conference at Walt Disney World.  The brightest minds in the social media gathered to network, learn from one another, and definitely have a lot of fun for two full days.

There were so many takeaways from the speakers, that I hardly know where to begin.  One of the very best speakers was Craig Engler, the general manager and senior vice president of Syfy Digital.  This piece from Sarah Skerik is a great summary of Craig's best points.  I loved learning about how he has refined his Twitter communication strategy over time.  It is a great testament to the need for adaptation in the social media world.

#Mashcon was a great event.  I am so blessed to work for a university that places a high priority on professional development and lifelong learning for its faculty.  Over the next several weeks I know I will continue to process all I learned and be even more amazed that I was able to participate.

Blogs Where You Least Expect Them

I'm getting ready for a business trip this week.  It will be my first time flying with my Nook color.  I was curious how the screening rules applied for the e-readers so I did a quick Google.  My search led me here - the TSA has a blog!

Actually, it makes sense.  The TSA is perceived as distant and adversarial.  Trying to connect with travelers on a personal level takes away some of the "us vs them" mentality.  However, one quick perusal of the comments section on the e-reader post makes it clear the some people don't perceive the blog as genuine.  More proof that the TSA is a brand, not just a government agency, and subject to the same rules as all others--be genuine, be consistent.

Having representatives from the TSA open up and share information is a step in the right direction.  However, until all TSA representatives demonstrate compassion, understanding, and a genuine desire to help and protect travelers, all other efforts to do so in social media and elsewhere will ring hollow.

A Big Social Media Event

It's not often the President schedules a press conference late on Sunday evening.  I wondered but dismissed it.  Then I started watching my Twitter feed.

What an amazing chain of events unfolded--Osama Bin Laden dead. 

I saw one person say that they'll remember where they were when they heard the news of Osama Bin Laden's death - they were on Twitter.  I can heartily concur.  This is the first big event where I heard the news via Twitter and watched details unfold little by little. 

What occurred to me in watching the various posts was how organic the whole thing was.  We've talked in class about some big social media events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars, but you don't really see the power of this tool until events like today.

What an amazing night!

Social Buying

This Tuesday, in class, we'll be discussing social buying.  Take a look at this infographic from Flowtown, shared by Techi.com for a great graphic on the size and history of some of the sites.