Note to Social Media Types- Build Your Interfaces
If you’re thinking about a future in social media, build your interfaces. This means, if you’re someone making media, build your text, video, audio, and your entire business with the mindset of how to connect it up to other organizations. Think TechCrunch meets the Washington Post, for instance. Think about how you will share: content, processes, financial back and forths, responsibilities.
Businesses in social media must be modular. Why “must?” Because you’ll miss opportunities. Tether to your own little island and when that rising tide gathers all the boats, you’ll be on the bottom of the new ocean.
And this goes for social media consultants, too. Learn how to be the PR and Marketing and Advertising company’s “go to guy,” not just someone who comes in and shares the word with the uninitiated. Teach how these pieces all go together, and show where YOU fit that experience.
And then, on the same topic, do the same for big businesses. Because if you’re thinking PR and marketing companies will carry on in the exact same way they exist today, think again. They know it. That’s why they’re working to adapt their value statements. That’s why they pay attention in the first place.
Big businesses and little businesses alike are figuring out these tools for their own use. Disaggregated. The same way record labels suddenly woke up to find themselves a little less “necessary,” certain oldschool communications companies will soon find themselves pushed off to the side.
Get modular. Get agile. Get more creative in how you will link to various opportunities.
What’s your take?
The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
Get the entire series by subscribing to this blog, and subscribe to my free newsletter here.
Music News
My musical friend from the north, Jay Moonah, shared proof that his legacy will indeed be passed to his beautiful child. Believe me when I say that this has everything to do with the power of social media on the way our lives are shaped.
And if you disbelieve, it’s just a really cute baby video. Either way, I wanted to share.
Magnify Goes to the Blogs
Magnify.net, known for their ability to collect and curate video content into groups on their own site, have brought some really intriguing features to Movable Type and WordPress in their new Magnify Publisher application.
It’s all in the little orange button in this pic (click to see bigger):
I’ve tried it live. You click the button, throw a search term into the box, and pow, out comes video options from multiple platforms, including YouTube, Blip, etc, etc. Tons. Want a photo? They’re integrated with Flickr. ( Not sure how it handles Creative Commons issues, now that I think about it, but that’s fixable, if not already on board). I think more photo integrations come next.
So, imagine this: you’re writing your blog post, decide you want a recent video of Obama talking about economic issues. Search, select, click embed, and pow. All done inline. I think it’s cool. Oh, and if you want to record video on the fly, there’s an inline tool that lets you do that, too. No jumping off the page. Just works right there, on site.
I saw this quote from Anil Dash from SixApart in the Press Release:
“Bloggers in our Movable Type community have consistently told us that their readers respond to posts with relevant videos and photos, so we’re always looking for ways to make rich media easier to find and share” said Six Apart’s Anil Dash. “Magnify Publisher makes that process extremely easy, providing an integrated application that lets bloggers discover, share or even create multimedia content right from within the familiar Movable Type interface.”
Friends of mine, like Justin and Eric from GimpTV really swear by Movable Type as a publishing platform, and because they’re video guys, maybe this works out even better for them. Me? I’m a WordPress user, and Steve Rosenbaum told me they’re pretty much ready to go with the same tool for WordPress, so I’m looking forward to getting that up and running on my site.
Nothing specific is up on the site yet, or I missed it, but hey, swing by Magnify.net and look for yourself. Say hi to Steve for me.
Coming to Detroit for ITEC May 20-22
I’ll be in Detroit for ITEC Detroit from May 20th - May 22nd. ITEC is our IT trade event, sharing the latest in Second Circle technologies (those that will potentially impact your company in the next 6-18 months). If you’re into tech, especially emerging stuff, come to the show (it’s free to attend).
ALSO, I’m hosting a breakfast briefing at the show about Social Media, so it’s your chance to hang out and talk social media (that’s on the morning of the 22nd at the Rock Financial Showplace).
Finally, I’d love to take part in a Tweetup on either Tuesday night (the 20th) or Wednesday night (the 21st). If you’re local, pick the place (somewhere not so fancy, where we can get a beverage or 2, where we can hear each other a little), and let us know. And tweet the hell out of it.
So who’s in? If you’re coming to the event, just click the links above, register, and you can pick your badge up at the show. If you’re doing the tweetup, cool. Just make sure you keep watching Twitter.
See you in Rock City.
Screen caps made with Skitch
A Day Without Twitter
Yesterday, I took the day off from Twitter. I’ve been using it fairly solidly since the early days, and wanted to get a feel for what I was counting on Twitter to do for me. The results were interesting:
- I count on Twitter for group answers. A LOT. For instance, I needed to know who from the social media scene was in Detroit. I ended up using LinkedIn, but I know that means I missed a bunch of folks.
- I count on Twitter as a way to express quick, random thoughts, or to mention references to cultural items to which I know people will respond. (For instance, I like tweeting parts of song lyrics, because it’s fun when people pick the song up as a reply).
- I use Twitter to promote other people. While I was dark, I got no less than 14 requests to promote fundraising causes, and 12 general promotion requests.
- I use Twitter to promote myself, my blog, things I’m doing.
A day without Twitter didn’t give me more time to write. It gave me fewer distractions, but I don’t sit around and LABOR on Twitter when I write something. Often times, I can just jot something from my mobile in between meetings, or I pop the window open, reply to a few folks, and then go back to my work. Meaning, I don’t find Twitter to be a time suck to me.
I’m wondering if I should try my “a day without” on other services, like email, or my BlackBerry.
Have you tried things like this? What would you lose if you didn’t have Twitter?
Photo Credit, Zed.Cat
Alexa Scordato Weighs In
From a comment left by Alexa Scordato:
I’m a little behind commenting on this, but I really have to publicly thank you Chris for letting me tackle this with you.
As everyone has already acknowledged, the wealth of information you’ve managed to put out in the past year is not only valuable, it’s inspiring. The content you put out is thoughtful, thorough, and always a step ahead. You successfully balance honesty with analysis, humor with opinion, and quality with quantity.
Even though I was a frequent reader of this blog prior to the assignment, it wasn’t until I spent hours trying to archive your posts, knee deep in links and trackbacks that I really grasped the magic you have going on here.
On average, you blogged more than 50 posts a month, sometimes updating as frequently as 3 or 4 times a day. In addition to your content, you also managed to develop an impressive readership - a community of dynamic, creative, and articulate individuals who all do what you preach: think, participate, and communicate. Did you know that out of the 528 posts I read through, the average post had at least 13 comments? Only 6% of your posts had 0 and these entries were audio based posts via Utterz or some other service where comments were posted externally.
I haven’t told you this yet, but I actually printed out the 22 page excel sheet I generated listing every single blogpost on here. Not only is it a visual reference I look at when I want to quickly find a post, it is a daily reminder of lessons I learned from you and this site:
1. Be passionate. Social media is constantly evolving and folks move fast in this world. It’s exhausting trying to keep up, but only those who really love it can.
2. Be a sponge. Read and learn from anything and everyone and constantly seek out new sources of information and opinion. Ask questions.
3. Be a creator of quality content. Whether its blogging, vlogging, podcasting, programming, etc. producing content is key. It’s one thing to observe and talk about social media. It’s another thing to actually make it, live it, breath it.
4. Be a person. Yeah chrisbrogan.com is IMO the #1 source for all things social media, but it’s also a great resource for how to be a listener and well-rounded human being. There are some great posts about family, friends, and balancing work/play and professional/personal time. We all have to unplug sometimes.
5. Participate online and offline. It’s not enough to develop surface connections with people via urls, friend requests, and email. Make the effort to meet someone face to face and converse in real time.
There’s more I can add to this list, but these are really the big picture ideas that are embedded in my head after reading your blog.
To any aspiring rockstars looking to stay afloat in social media waters, this site is the golden life preserver.
Thanks again Chris.
ReadBurner Partners with NetVibes
Why let Google Reader have all the fun? My friend, Drew Olanoff, alerts me to the news that ReadBurner, known for showing news from the point of view of how many people have shared it using Google Reader’s Shared Items feature, have expanded. They’ve just released (20 minutes ago) a tie into NetVibes via the Ginger API, that will promote a similar kind of feature. The tab is already live on the ReadBurner site, so you can test it out directly.
As the aggregation space heats up, I’m excited that Drew, Adam, and the rest of the team are coming up with interesting new ideas at ReadBurner, and I wish them well.
What do you think? And who’s going to come out with smart filtering first?
Screen caps made with Skitch
Get Faster
One way to stay pertinent is to scan, learn, absorb, reflect, and synthesize relevant information faster than the others in your space. Play the cards you’re given, but if it takes you almost a week to report into the space something that a hundred other people have already weighed in on, your insight had best be earth shattering, because otherwise, it’s just another log on the fire someone else started.
Social media is a pulse-driven network of fast. The problem becomes learning how to sort and synthesize what’s important instead of just reading everything that comes along. Are you learning?
The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
Get the entire series by subscribing to this blog, and subscribe to my free newsletter here.
Photo credit, la cola di mi perro
The Target is Not the Weapon
Donald Trump. Who’d have thought I’d be in a bookstore last night and see a book by Donald Trump, and that I’d pick it up, and at random flip to a chapter with that title? The Target Is Not The Weapon. It’s a simple lesson, and yet profound in how it changes one’s focus.
In social media, the tools aren’t the same thing as reaching a goal. If you’re a marketer looking to use these tools, then make the first goal to learn how the community moves, listen to its ebbs and flows, and then make the next goal to try starting conversations. But don’t stop there. What’s the real goal? What’s your real target? Growing sales? Building leads? Engaging more people in your nonprofit cause?
I have been doing this exercise for days in different forms, but not with this language in mind. Think about this in Trump’s words. If you’re seeking to hit a target, is the goal to use a dart or an arrow or a bullet, or is it to improve your accuracy, or is it simply to hit the bullseye? The answer is C, even though A and B are part of the equation. Make sense?
I’m thinking long and hard on which social media tools do what for my own business goals, and how this will impact what I advise people to do next. Do the tools have impact? Definitely. See the Financial Aid Podcast and Wine Library TV for two small business examples. See Direct2Dell for another example. See tons more examples in between.
But the chatter, the conversation for conversation’s sake? It’s fine and I don’t begrudge people using the tools for social conversation (enhanced beyond standard email). And yet, I’m assessing which parts do the most for me. What about you?
Here’s an Amazon link to the book:
Photo credit by uuuhyeah
Kirtsy Back in Business
Kirtsy is the new name for Sk*rt, who skirted into waters that weren’t as comfy for a moment there. It’s a pretty cool site. Mix the wisdom of the crowds with 22 engaged and passionate editors and you get a fabulous hybrid of social news meets curated content.
Kirtsy is a site where women point out the cool stuff. Is that simple enough? There’s obviously a lot more at play here, but after looking around the site, I think you’ll figure it out pretty quickly, as well, and so I won’t dig in too deeply.
What I will say, however, is that Kirtsy has some neat features (the mix of editing and voting, for one), a nice design, and has a lot to offer women looking for information on a whole host of subjects, including family, design, travel, mind and body, and more.
Give Kirtsy a look-see, and let me know what you think-see.
Screen caps made with Skitch
