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I become the go-to social media gal

April 25, 2011 By 2 Comments

comic-internet by Enrique Burgos

I’m helping a co-worker set up Facebook and Twitter this week.  He’s a complete beginner on both fronts so I have to go through everything with him.  The worst of it is he’s going to be posting from the Endeavor shuttle launch on Friday.  I began the set-up a couple of weeks ago and told him to start playing with the two platforms, but of course, he didn’t.  The second session also kept getting delayed for one reason or another until today.

I now have three days to get him comfortable with Twitter, Facebook, and Hootsuite. 

They should have just sent me to the launch.  Sure, I don’t have the scientific background he does, but I can make commentary with the best of them.  I’m hoping he can get used to conveying bits of information that are only 122 characters or less (that’s the 140, minus the hashtag, minus 7 characters for retweet room.)  I know it took me some time to be able to distill my thoughts down that far.  I have the feeling he’s going to end up like comic book granddaddy, Stan Lee, and just keep stringing them together into long, wearying posts.  (I still follow Stan, not just out of respect, but because Stan is also 89 years old.  I figure he gets a pass on not fully getting the concept.)

He’s a pretty smart guy – he is a professor in astronomy, after all – so I suppose I shouldn’t worry too much.  I may get some panicked calls from him over the next three days, but I’m sure he’ll adapt.  I hope the technology holds up.  I have no idea if shuttle launches interfere with phone signals.  I really hope that I can get enough buzz going around the hashtag so we get some questions and interaction from our audience.  I would have preferred to start last week, but hey, better late than never.

We’re sending a video camera with him, too.  I’m hoping we can get some Youtube footage; we don’t use our channel nearly enough for my taste.  If all goes well, he’ll be hooked and I’ll have another social media supporter to keep things rolling.

All this being said, I’m not sure I’m a very good teacher.  I automatically assume everyone is conversant with the jargon and technology, so I have to go back and explain.  A lot.  Still, it makes me feel good to be needed for this.  I’m not sure anyone else in administration could have gotten him going with only two hour-long sessions.

If you had told me a year and a half ago that I’d be the social media connection for a science center I’d have said you were crazy.  I guess I’m still able to adapt pretty well – or b.s. my way through.  Either way, it feels pretty good.

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Has Twitter become important?

February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A screen shot from my Twitter feed #jan25

As you know, like most the world, I have been following the situation in Egypt.  It’s been fascinating for the event itself, but it’s also been amazing because of how it has been reported.

There is an astonishing immediacy to the information coming out of there.  I remember back in 1990-91 when I watched the Persian Gulf War on TV – specifically, one night when Operation Desert Storm unfolded on CNN before everyone’s eyes.  I was theoretically on a date with a guy who was in the Marines – obviously not deployed – but we ended up watching TV the whole time.  I was stunned that you could see the whole thing right then and there.  It was unromantic, but fascinating. (The relationship never really developed with the Marine, not because we watched the news on a date, but because he was kind of a git.) 

Today, I’ve been following the news on Twitter.  Despite the initial government shutdown of internet access, information got through.  It’s not always accurate, but it has been prolific.  I’ve seen links to videos, articles, pictures, you name it.  In fact, one of the ways that the Egyptians got around the internet ban was by pulling out their old dial-up modems and using numbers tweeted out by folks from all over the world.

I have a Twitter stream set up with the #jan25 hash tag and it continues to jump like crazy.  I’ve been able to keep an eye on things during work without watching TV or reading big articles.  All I do is click over to the stream, browse the news in 140 character chunks, and then switch back to whatever I was doing.  Plus, I get more than just the news, but opinions of others from all over the world.  Even the rumors and propaganda add another layer to the story that I probably wouldn’t have gotten on TV.  Without the Twitter feed, I wouldn’t have seen the letter that Roger Ebert tweeted from a friend who is a witness to the protests, or been reminded of the live Al Jazeera feed.

Twitter hasn’t been my exclusive source for news on Egypt, but it has been a window to other avenues I just wouldn’t have found without it.  How amazing is that?  Who’d have thought that something that was initially invented to help teens tell each other what’s going on would turn into a tool to report and coordinate a rebellion? 

It’s incredible.  Once I thought Twitter was a silly social nothing, now I actually think it’s become important.  Ask an Egyptian if you don’t agree.

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Will work for money

December 16, 2010 By 2 Comments

We knew it was coming, but it was still a surprise when Alex’s contract job suddenly came to an end.  It was supposed to wrap up on December 31st, but the HR department realized that Alex was taking work direction from his sister-in-law and decided he needed to go two weeks early.  Yes, you read that right.  Alex had been at the job for over six months and was officially taking work direction from K’s boss, not K.  By all accounts he was doing a great job – K’s boss even said she’d give him a good reference – and no one had hidden that he was related to K.  Nepotism, as you know, is not discouraged in corporate America, you just can’t be in the same department or work might get done.  So, the brilliant (and obviously very observant) folks in HR wouldn’t even let him finish the last bit he’d been hired to do.  It frustrated him, but that was the end of it.

This means Alex is back on the job market and I’m sweating over money a little sooner than anticipated.  I’m looking for more ways to earn extra cash that doesn’t involve Amway or selling through pyramid schemes.  My buddies in internet marketing are still offering me articles to write – which reminds me, I need to work on those this evening – and I’ve begun tweeting for money.  (Sounds sordid, doesn’t it?)

The tweeting doesn’t bring in much, just a buck or so per tweet, but cash is cash right now.  I thought hard about whether or not it was ethical, whether it would annoy my followers.  Eventually, I decided if I only tweet about things I like and make sure it says “sponsored” or “advertisement” it couldn’t hurt.  I won’t be tweeting ads 24 hours a day, so it shouldn’t annoy anyone too much.  Besides, one of the tweets was for Butt Paste and I’d probably talk about that for free anyway.  (Don’t worry; it’s diaper rash cream and I have many parent friends who swear by it.  It was a big baby shower gift for both practical reasons and because everyone likes to say “Butt Paste.”)

Sadly, I am also keeping an eye open for other jobs.  I really like working where I am, and I think it could lead to other opportunities, but it doesn’t pay much.  I wouldn’t say I’m actively looking, but if something comes by that seems promising, I’ll apply.  By promising, I mean it would have to pay at least $10k more a year with the same type of benefits I get now.  In other words, I’m not holding my breath. 

The RV pie blogging situation is starting to look really good again.  I wonder if I could get sponsored by Butt Paste?

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To Twitter list or not to Twitter list, that is the question

October 5, 2010 By 1 Comment

All right, it’s time for a minor geek-out.  Because I’ve been helping write an eBook on Hootsuite use, I’ve been fiddling with Twitter a lot lately.  Specifically, I’ve been looking at Twitter lists.  I don’t know how many of you who read this blog are also on Twitter, but I can’t decide if I like lists or not.  All the social media gurus out there seem to think that it’s a great way to “give back” to followers who are in your line of business that you think others would be interested in.  It’s also a way to keep track of favorite writers, friends you’ve actually met in person, that sort of thing.

Of course, if you don’t tweet, you probably have no idea what I’m talking about.  Basically, you can group people you follow and people who follow you into lists that you can click on to see just what those people are saying and filter out the rest.  Since I’m following about 240-odd people now, there is a tendency to lose some posts in the stream that I’d like to see, so lists are kind of helpful for that.  I can only imagine how difficult it would be for those who follow thousands.

Sometimes, I use it to spy on the lists of those whose tweets I really like.  I figure if they follow a certain list, I’d probably like it too.  And you can follow someone else’s list without having to follow the individuals, which saves a lot of time.  But a lot of those people I’m interested in don’t have lists.  Most of the really interesting people out there don’t.  The ones who do, seem to have lists of buddies that chat with each other, and I feel a little like I’m eavesdropping in a bad way.  Sure, I do the same thing in restaurants when someone’s being funny or strange, but that’s a fleeting thing.  I don’t follow those people home and listen to their phone messages; which is kind of how it feels.  It also loses a lot because I don’t get the obviously inside jokes. 

The gurus and social media bloggers often have tons of lists, so I’m kind of wondering if the whole thing is just a segment of the “social media as marketing” ploy.  But then, I use social media as a way to get my message out there, so is there any harm?  Does anyone want to know that there’s a few of my tweeps that are really funny and are worth keeping an eye on?  Is it more fun to come across someone new on your own?  Are we all just putting the same people on lists in some endless Twitter loop?

Let me know what you think.  You’re on the blog, leave a comment or hit my Twitter at @freshatforty.

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