Twitter: Think Before You RT

by Jayme Soulati on 09/28/2010 in Social Media

I learned a valuable reminder

http://www.ordinary-gentleman.com

today. Last night while tweeting on my Blackberry while at a client welcome reception watching Monday night football (Bears win), I RT’ed a tweep’s tweet. She is a respected high-level marketer from a respected large company. In fact, I’ve done business with her, although indirectly.

Here’s the re-tweet I made, and what caught my eye was the hash tag “#quote.” I knew this did not encompass the entire definition of marketing yet I liked the “authentic voice.”

RT @margaretmolloy: A marketing agency’s greatest value is helping the client find and express its authentic voice. #quote #in

Today, two individuals in my stream called me on the content of the RT I sent:

@FocusCom said: @Soulati gotta disagree. The purpose of marketing is to attract interest in products & services that result in sales.

@BruceServen: @Soulati that’s as good as calling it dead and irrelevant.

I wasn’t clear without searching for the original tweet what I had said that prompted these tweets:

@FocusCom: @Soulati It was an RT. “Authentic voice” sounds lovely, but in reality the role of marketing is to sell stuff.

What I read as a quote from a respected colleague made for a different point of view by others. People RT on the fly, they don’t open the links others post before sharing with their streams, and what results are the varying perspectives that make Twitter so rich. My interpretation is not yours, neither am I attempting to make yours mine. We share opinions, perspectives and information; it’s all good.

Thanks to @FocusCom and @BruceServen for your unassuming blog-post prompt and questions pertaining to this tweet. It gave me a healthy pause and prompted this post that encourages everyone to think before they RT and expect healthy rebuttal when someone takes the time to respond.

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Twitter Roundup — What Every New Blog Needs

by Jayme Soulati on 09/24/2010 in Blogging 101

Credit: http://simonnemichelle.files.wordpress.com

I just registered #SMBChat as an official hash tag, and a new blog called SMB Collective is in the works. This post is inspired by the mission for SMB Collective to be educational, supportive and bring global perspective on a variety of topics for all small and medium business owners. Within that tier one audience is the newbie blogger, and this information is for them/us.

(Background on the formation of #SMBChat can be found here and here.)

I asked several tier-one tweeps and blogging communities, including #SBT10 and #BlogChat, what they recommend every new blog needs. 

(For your information #SBT10 is Start Blogging Today at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesdays hosted by primary ring leader Grant Griffiths, of WordPress premium theme, Headway. I thank Grant for teeing up my question on Twitter yesterday to help garner this fodder.)

The Twitter Tweep Round-Up

Following is the roundup of everyones’ suggestions varying from previous posts and video to someone’s brand new post and other tips on plug-ins and strategy. What’s neat is the interpretation of the question and thus the varying insights and expertise:

  • I’ll begin with a few suggestions of my own (knowing my first blogging attempt is deficient in many of these aspects) — each blog needs a good back-up plan, whether Back-Up Buddy or something else. Analytics are necessary to identify posts most popular with highest traffic. A plug in that allows the emailing of comments is required (not here yet); and, I like New England Multimedia’s blog yesterday (see below) with the plug in Michelle uses, called Comment Luv (it enables a blogger’s previous post to present with a posted comment elsewhere). Lastly, RSS is important; people need ways to subscribe to your blog.
  • John Haydon was the first to respond. He said every blog needs (for starters) an about page with a picture; a widget for categories; e-mail opt-in; social connections (I believe that means ways to follow, repeat on Twitter, Facebook, etc.); and, threaded comments.
  • Amy Howell with Howell Marketing claimed she was a newbie and tossed this question off to Mark Schaefer who added a blog post written a year ago in answer to my question. In spite of her tee up to Mark, Amy added links, promotion of others, imagery, and use of humor as her recommendations for new blogs.
  • Mark W. Schaefer’s blog from July 2009 offers tongue-in-cheek serious counsel from his friend John Bottom, a gifted B2B marketer in London. They both agree “good, original content” is all that’s needed. Mark says be consistent with personal passions and interests; focus on one broad subject area so as to not confuse your readers; be interesting, useful and entertaining.
  • Jon Buscall, who resides in Sweden and owns Jontus Media, shared a link to a YouTube video he developed featuring WordPress plug ins and a bit more.
  • Gregg Morris of storytelling fame shared these tips for every new blog — A great title that relates to the business if possible; an about page that describes what’s in the blog for the reader as well as giving a little info about the business as it relates to that; a services page that describes what’s offered, whether via e-commerce or brick and mortar; a contact page that has every way imaginable to get in touch with the business and the people behind it; a contact form should be there, too; a story page (you knew that was coming right?). While they’re not prevalent yet, they soon will be. This is where the emotional connections between business/brands and customers are going to be cemented.
  •  Tom Pick, a B2B marketer who runsa well-respected blog,  Webbiquity, pondered a bit and suggested a PLAN (for content and promotion) and key plugins like All In One SEO Pack and Subscribe2 are required.
  • Neicole Crepeau asked if the question referred to WordPress and if so she recommends getting a good theme; one that is SEO friendly (she uses Thesis), and get Akismet for spam management. Calls to action should be positioned clearly and above the fold (because you’re blogging for a reason). Include the RT button as well as Like/Share on every post.
  •  Several people who surfaced as a result of my at-large question suggested I feature Doug Stewart’s blogging tips for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and they are here. Doug tweets from Oklahoma. I just met Bruce Serven yesterday, and he recommends “perseverence” for any new blog or blogger.
  • My new PR friend JodyKoehler from The Netherlands offers his number-one recommendation as great content –”that really crushes it!” and a good measurement tool as a close second. (I like that he’s always using “crushes.”)
  • Michelle Quillin, a regular contributor here, took the question directly to heart and ran off to write a brand new blog post with her recommendations and five best practices for beginning bloggers. She said it was too much to fit into multiple 140s on Twitter. Love that, Michelle! If you tap in to her piece, she suggests images, make the ask, KISS, title, and keywords.

Because these are so valuable, and the content I find is also valuable on WordPress Beginner, I’m providing the links they gave me on Twitter for Recommended plugins for WordPress. Because these suggestions by WordPress Beginner are important, I’m sharing nearly the entire bulleted list right here, so everyone can link quicker. If you’d like to see more from these guys, I encourage you to follow them on Twitter and peruse their blog. These guys rock. (Hey, can you help me design my next blog?)

Must Have WordPress Plugins for Every Blog (extracted from WordPress Beginner, and they say “We recommend these plugins for any new blog or existing blog. There are more plugins that would need to be added based on the niche and your needs. But for any generic blog, this should be a good list to start with.”)

  • Akismet – comes installed with your WordPress by default. All you have to do is get an API Key to activate it. It prevents your blog from comment spam. Read our Akismet 101 Guide for All WordPress Users.
  • All-in-One SEO – This is an ultimate necessity for your blog if you want to have any chance of ranking high in search engines. All-in-One-SEO Pack allows you to add unique meta description, keywords, and titles to each page of your blog and blog posts. (User’s Guide for All in One SEO for the Recommended Settings and tips.)
  • Contact Form 7 – When running a blog you need to allow your users to contact you. This is the best free contact form plugin to this date. It makes everything easy. (An alternative to this plugin is a paid plugin known as Gravity Forms which is extremely feature rich.)
  • WordPress Database Backup – This plugin lets you make backup for your blog’s database as often as you need. You can set this process to be automated and have it deliver to your email or a safe spot in your webhost. By having this plugin, you can always stay on the safe side because if anything goes wrong, you have the latest backup in your possession. If you want to get a full backup of your WordPress site, then a commercial plugin known as Backup Buddy is the BEST option.
  • Subscribe to Comments – A plugin that allows your users to subscribe to the comments, so they will be notified when the next comment is posted. It helps your user to stay updated with the discussion and keep the activity going on your blog.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for everyone who contributed to this crazy “crush” of tips from peeps strictly on Twitter. I LOVE Twitter and all of you. What did we miss in this SMB Collective?

 

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Launching SMB Collective

by Jayme Soulati on 09/21/2010 in Business

It’s officially a domain, yet nothing is there. As a strategist, the ideas are flowing too quickly to capture. So, this stream of conscious requires a whoa-Bessy from y’all to add the Internet marketing expertise and more strategic input.

To recap, last week was an amazing rapid-fire barnburner to alter Soulati-TUDE! into SMB Chat Forum, registered now on wthashtag as #SMBChat, and morphing into SMB Chat Collective turned SMB Collective. (Thanks, @JennWhinnem and @GinaKayRe for hashtag and naming, respectively.)

Big discussion from a variety of amazing tweeps helped push the idea into fruition, prompted by Neicole Crepeau of Coherent Interactive. Contributors along the way are Michelle Quillin of New England MultiMedia and Gregg Morris of storytelling fame. Jon Buscall is a major help; you’ll see how below.

A designer I use, Glen Moyes, immediately suggested registering the domain (this I knew to do) and launching the blog elsewhere, away from Soulati Media and apart from Soulati-TUDE! After we discussed it further, I saw the light, and registered the domain (something Neicole suggested early on).

The brand, SMB Collective, implies so much:

  • A collection of SMB experts offering commentary about all things pertaining to business. I can see immediately the need for how-tos on blogging and Internet marketing musts (ala what Jon Buscall  of Sweden has been sharing with me).
  • Home to many guest posters each with a perspective from some corner of the world or vertical that provides fodder for our own blogs to comment and link in parallel with cross-pollination of ideas and content.
  • A collection of resources for SMBs from all walks of life to interact with some of the best and least-known social media practitioners in the industry who offer a wealth of skills and capabilities.
  • A location for SMBs to tap and hire a virtual team with all the expertise to promote, position and run a business anyone could imagine needing. To see common opinions and perspectives come alive on this blog (similar to Mark Schaefer’s extremely engaging and global-encompassing blog {grow}) would enable the interaction and community that make social media so rich.

I share all of this because this is a strategy in the making. Perhaps you’re in the position of “just launch it already, Jayme” (me, too), but the intricacies of all the moving parts and the ability to speak out loud and garner feedback are what’s making me use this social media forum to secure consensus and confidence in a concept. Consensus is very required, as this endeavor ideally is going to include guest posts from a variety of tweeps.

So, thanks, everyone, for the expertise and commentary this past week or so. Everyone is helping to shape an idea that is now more real than it was yesterday.

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Follow-Up: SMB Chat Forum

by Jayme Soulati on 09/18/2010 in Business

An intellectual team of tweeps I know have been helping formulate an idea rapid fire to launch a forum for SMBs that allows small and medium businesses to opine about topics relating to business operations, national issues affecting business owners, education about topics we specialize in, and so much more.

This week has been the jazziest for me. With incredible brainstorming done via Twitter and on this blog (you can see Wednesday’s post “Planning to SMB Facebook” with its amazing comments) and an even more solidifying conversation with Neicole Crepeau (with whom this nugget originated), this is a final follow-up to evolution of this idea.

The fast unfolding of this concept (resulting in a decision to make this blog home to #SMBChat) was stymied by discussion around the consequence of switching blog focus and key words that would inevitably harm search engine rankings. Befuddled in my PR mind, I could not understand what the big dang hooha is about rankings and search marketing for this blog.

Several expert comments by Neicole, Michelle Quillin and Gregg Morris suggested not to turn this blog into something that diminishes traffic and rankings for public relations and social media (themes I write about) or to write half about these themes and half about SMBs.

I remained baffled, and here’s why:

This blog ain’t got no traffic(!), and, if it does, it’s sure hidden from me. Soulati-TUDE! is 100 posts old; has perhaps four subscribers from maybe an all-time high of 12; targets SMB topics a goodly amount of time with an educational bent; is written by a PR agency practitioner of 26 years (that’s me) who pings on a plethora of topics to position and brand as a thought leader.

I understand why Gregg Morris who themes on storytelling could not diminish his rankings with something like this; he’s all over that key word and works hard to maintain his presence and position.

I understand why Neicole Crepeau at Coherent Interactive needs to keep her key words focused on Web sites, design, digital interaction, and social media. That’s where her niche is.

But, guys, I’m in PR!! Public relations is ubiquitous. My world spans every industry and business sector. I deliver strategy, critical thinking, problem solving and solutions. I ping across verticals like a ball on a rubber band attached to a paddle. I offer business counsel for SMBs, large corporations and non-profits. I develop content and allow the experts to optimize it. After 26 years in this field, I can take the risk of a few ranking points while creating a mash up of public relations, social media, SMBs, health care, education, immigration, financial reform and whatever the mood strikes.

Everyone I meet on Twitter is a SMB; we are not engaging and creating community with corporate biggies and Fortune companies, are we? Look at your stream; who among them are global corporate execs?

The goal for #SMBChat Forum is to create community of like-minded folks frustrated with issues that affect our businesses so we can share opinions, perspectives, solutions, and support.  Perhaps along the way we can tackle tough issues, stake a claim on our own plat of the Internet and foster harmony at the same time. With guest posts from a variety of folks with differing views and businesses from all corners of the globe, we can do just that.

Perhaps I can rename the blog with a tagline to be Soulati-TUDE! Home of #SMBChat Forum (or the Big Whopper).

If I find a consistent voice oriented to the issues that plague us, isn’t that the most critical component?

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More SMB Chat Recap

by Jayme Soulati on 09/16/2010 in Business

It’s been an exciting few days growing a community of SMBs (that’s small-t0-medium businesses) yesterday and the day before right here. To recap the heretofore in brief:

  • The news about health premiums rising to “pay for” health reform and targeting SMBs, individuals put me over the edge. In speaking with Neicole Crepeau   in a fabulous Twitter conversation detailed here, I asked how we bloggers could unite and create a larger voice. She suggested a Facebook page, and off we went.
  • By engaging my tier one tweeps (you can see their identities via links in this post), what resulted was the most rewarding exchange of social media brainstorming world-wide without speaking one word. (I am in awe and thank each of you for participating in this experience.)

The results are still unfolding:

  • Facebook was initially suggested as the forum for our SMB community to reach the small service businesses and others needing  information and peer group support we’d offer. Comments to the contrary said it was a “personal” place while LinkedIn was pushed as the first choice.
  • Comments about LinkedIn say it’s highly professional and peoples’ experience with its groups hold low regard. My sense is lack of familial exchange and inability to create a friendly forum in which to exchange commentary and free thought.
  • This blog, Soulati-TUDE!, is new. Its voice written by moi as a public relations practitioner is not theme oriented per se; it’s about social media, PR, teaching and observation about what impacts me. While some see this as not having direction, it is perfectly me — I thirst for knowledge and return it back strategically. The SMB audience is always a focus albeit not an emphasis.  
  • To grow the SMB community here, this blog’s backend needs work with new plug-ins, upgrades, and a general-take-it-to-the-next-level thrust; Facebook Like, LinkedIn button, e-mail comments plug in, and other things as advised by you. (I develop content; the tech stuff kills me until I learn, learn, learn.)
  • I’ve officially registered #SMBChat on What the HashTag. (Thanks, Jenn!) People asked for a Twitter forum to review issues easily and trend the topic, too. No official name as of yet for this; I like SMBChat, really. (How about you?)
  • Neicole suggested yesterday this blog would suffer SEO if some of it is devoted to SMB and the other posts to PR. Not sure I really care about that? As said earlier, my agency PR background pings me all over. Who has expertise to share on the importance of that, please?
  • On that note, differentiating a blog from others in the same vertical takes consistent effort. This emphasis would engage hundreds of tweeps in no time at all from across verticals and offer rich perspective for those with no voice at all.

And, so, away we go! Please suggest other thoughts to push us into the home stretch. Thank you!

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Planning to SMB Facebook

by Jayme Soulati on 09/15/2010 in Business, Thinking

So great we can open source this discussion right here to determine what a small-to-medium business forum, community, partnership, etc. looks like. Yesterday, I invited several tweeps to join in the creation of this endeavor, and nearly all accepted.

To recap, Neicole Crepeau and I determined the need for a forum, place, community location to address issues of concern pertaining to SMBs. That’s us. I invited (and they graciously accepted) Michelle Quillin, Jon Buscall, Michelle Hellyar, and Jenn Whinnem.

Another questioned the choice of platforms and said “Fail” to Facebook although he agreed it was “easy to set up.” Am hoping Gregg Morris weighs in here to share  his expertise for the back end. I believe, Davina Brewer at 3Hats will come forth, too, right?

What never fails to frustrate me is the back-end tech requirements of all things social media. Folks not in the know believe it’s “so easy” to set up a blog and take off to the moon. Or, launch a Facebook page with nary a glance at its design or interactivity; or, set up a SMB forum only on Facebook because the knowledge about other platforms is non-existent (sigh).

As a public relations strategist, I am an idea person through and through. It’s these tech details that kill me (and mark my words right here, that I will master this dark tunnel), and that’s why having varying levels of expertise on board for this is fabulous. Without further ado, let’s collaborate on what this puppy looks like. Please weigh in and please also forgive my lack of plug in for “email comments to me.” (The house is not in order!)

Strategic Plan for “The SMB Forum” or WHATEVER!

Objective

  • Create community for SMBs frustrated with new and befuddling rules of engagement for businesses
  • Provide forum for collective opinion and determine ability for call to action oriented to issues
  • Invite SMBs from all verticals to share among peer groups, collaborate freely while supporting and learning one anothers’ plights

Strategy

  • Communicate issues of import to SMBs based on breaking news, state laws, and other items pertaining to general business administration.
  • Inform and educate all SMBs about news that affects us regardless of size or industry sector.
  • Collaborate with independents, solos and other really small businesses and create a familial community where all questions are respected and all comments delivered in like manner and in good humor.

Audience

  • All SMBs who engage online
  • Bloggers seeking partners with whom to collaborate
  • Business owners seeking suppliers

Tactics

  • Assess rules of engagement for group leaders; determine topical interests and purpose for joining
  • Name the group!
  • Launch the group on a platform that is Facebook, ning, LinkedIn or elsewhere? What is preferred/why? (LinkedIn may be a great place to do this…?)
  • Develop some basic rules of engagement: i.e. comments on issues, welcomes to new group members, news articles that pertain to SMBs (many each day re laws and Congress) etc.

OK…your thoughts, please? Thank you!

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Should We SMB Facebook?

by Jayme Soulati on 09/14/2010 in Business, Planning & Strategy

Twitter offers lovely surprises when you least expect it. I had no idea I’d banter intelligently with Neicole Crepeau (@neicolec) and invite her to a phone chat which resulted in both of us describing ourselves as SMBs frustrated with the health care reform situation. Nicole runs Coherent Interactive  and blogs on social media here.

My initial thrust in reaching out to Neicole was oriented to “what can we do as bloggers” to fight back?

Neicole, idea person that she is, suggested a Facebook page. That put the wheels in high gear. I’ve been avoiding starting a Facebook page for Soulati Media, Inc. because the Web site is still not where it needs to be (my designer is in la la land and not responding), and my blog pages need to be built with informed content. Why open yet another channel when my house is not in order?

Rather than Facebook about me and be so repetitive and boring, Neicole and I briefly addressed a Facebook fan page for small business owners struggling with high emotion about taxes, insurance, finance, and all other issues that form the backbone of our businesses.

Several years ago, I registered a domain name that would address the administrative inside of a business; the site would be a plethora of resources for all SMBs to tap and enable a smooth sail for these issues that plague us. My dream is still a dream, but this Facebook page is more a reality and easier implemented, too.

Here’s the invite…

We’re seeking SMBs (that’s small-to-medium businesses) to join us on this venture. Our aim is to create a forum for us in business to voice our concerns, share tales, and lend support to our peer groups. The role of those who engage would be to add links, content, comments and encouragement to anyone stopping by.

There’s no monetary gain here unless you get a lead from a prospect eager to engage in our conversation. The commitment is one of intellectual stimulation, some time, and the ability to freely say “I’m ticked off that SMBs continue to be gouged for more taxes, higher premiums, and more accounting demands…etc.”

As Neicole and I run successful ventures that keep us hopping (see above), we’re eager to find like-minded folks to launch this yet-to-be-named forum.

If you deem this cause and our mission agreeable, please join in. Just a note below is all we need to engage. If you think the Small Business Forum worthy and you’d participate, please also give me a nod here.

From the pod of a seed, big ideas come and a community is generated.

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Media Relations ala Reputation Management

by Jayme Soulati on 09/10/2010 in Media Relations, Planning & Strategy, Social Media Strategy

One of the first pieces of counsel I give to companies embarking on media relations, messaging or message mapping is to know your competitors. By conducting a regular competitive analysis you garner full understanding of the space in which your company plays. While before competitive analysis was a challenging exercise, the onset of social media and social networking has made this research easy and fun.

To know your competition, who’s the spokesperson, what they’re saying, and about what product/service they’re preaching is imperative. This knowledge helps create a defensible or offensive position to tell your story via traditional media relations as well as social media engagement.

The August 2010 story “Rethinking Reputation Management” in Website Magazine says similarly:

“It’s time to rethink reputation management solutions. Ask yourself: How closely am I looking at my competition’s reputation? Identify companies you actively compete against as the first step. Commercial reputation management and monitoring solutions provide the deepest insight.”

The article goes on to say that tracking search terms produce the best information i.e. key words associated with your vertical. Once search terms yield a treasure of info, save them for constant monitoring via online reputation management tools.

What I mean by developing a competitive position relates directly to how informed you are about your entire industry sector. If there is a company with which you continually vie for market share, then learn everything you can about how they play and conduct business.

This knowledge translates directly to your boardroom chats about how to position your company to your peer group, customers, media, and other influencers. With the wealth of information now available online, you can build industry monitoring directly into tasks accomplished three times weekly.

I recommend some basic starting points to drive business intelligence (please add more to enrich these suggestions):

  • Monitor Twitter for trending topics, company spokespeople, and what the Twitterverse is saying.
  • Register yourself with Twellow and Listorious (with your own Twitter account) and regularly track others in your market there. Be sure to follow “people to watch” and get on lists to track the buzz.
  • Set up Trackur or Radian6, a few online reputation monitoring tools, along with Google or Yahoo! alerts, too.
  • Definitely monitor Facebook and YouTube for posted content as well as commentary associated to respective posts/videos within each social media channel.
  • Blogs tracked via Technorati and RSS are a must to monitor. It’s easy enough to subscribe to a competitor’s blog to see what’s going on and how aggressive their messaging truly is (relating to your market).

Rather than get inundated with data you don’t know what do with, monitor other companies for about six weeks to garner a firm understanding of competitors’ messages. This time period is enough to showcase a decent perspective of the alleged market leader. It also provides the backbone you need to begin to develop your own offensive position.

With the aforementioned, your messaging framework is rooted in competitive intelligence, and it strengthens delivery of your company’s external information to the influencers you’re trying to reach.  Your goal is not only to engage social media and create community, but to do it with aplomb! Hard-hitting, influential message delivery by designated spokespeople to traditional media and social media is how you get ahead of the curve and catch up to those already playing in your space.

  • Incorporate learnings from your peer group into your own messages. Package messages that resonate with a sprinkling of key words to satisfy search marketing, and be confident in your own storytelling abilities.
  • After you have a comfortable working message framework, package it into a message map. (Ask me if you’re unfamiliar with this necessary tool.)
  • Develop content that tells your story, issue many online press releases to build link love, drive traffic to your social media and networking outlets and continually garner attention from consumers at large.
  • Conduct traditional media relations with trade media in your market sector, and when a story appears be sure you feature that in all the respective places you publish content.
  • Give it three-to-six months to earn traction, depending on your aggressiveness.
  • Monitor your own company and the key words associated with your business. By doing so, you remain in an offensive position and can more expediently thwart attempts by the competition to gain the leading edge.

What have I missed? Please add your thoughts to the importance of competitive analysis for pretty much everything in which we engage, right?

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Freedom of Expression?

by Jayme Soulati on 09/07/2010 in Thinking


Symbol for Freedom of Expression, Democracy, UNESCO

Freedom of expression has become fear of reprisal for your opinion.

It’s difficult to truly express yourself anymore without feeling intimidated about the inevitable reaction. A Twitter pal expressed  her opinion about a politician; I DM’ed her and offered kudos remarking that public support of our elected officials was dicey and she was brave to display her sentiment on Twitter. (Note my lack of courage to share my thought to the entire stream.)

There are new comment policies being implemented more and more on blogs (I wouldn’t know about that yet!). Bloggers are asking for respect from subscribers/readers for all opinions without show of hatred, vicious attacks or downright rudeness. Apparently, we’ve come to a crossroads in respect where folks hiding behind the written word are compelled to strongly attack instead of invite constructive debate.

There are always two sides to every equation, story, experience, situation, and  circumstance:

  • The creditors and debtors
  • Pro-lifers and pro-choice folks
  • Republicans and Democrats with a few more mixed in
  • Smokers and non-smokers
  • Pro mosque or burning of the Islamic holy book

With international borders invisible on social media and networking, are there issues around global expression becoming more heated? Where are the lines of demarcation for decorum and who monitors those? Are there groups using this ungoverned platform as a means to build grassroots campaigns and take them viral?

I’d suggest yes; however, I’m not privy to an actual movement (perhaps the Tea Party is the best example today). Political parties are doing awfully well on the Ethernet. The gun slinging and hatred across the aisle feel more heightened than ever before. We’re walking a divisive line here that I believe will never blend.

On what side of the fence do you sit? Each of us has opinions to share; whether we share them publicly, privately or in a forum in which others agree.  Bloggers with high levels of subscribers/readers have the opportunity to express their opinions.  In any coursework for new bloggers, we’re told to “be controversial.”

That depends solely on a blogger’s comfort level with the first statement I made in this post.What about you? Do you have an opinion or two to share?

Image credit: Helmut Langer

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Anatomy of 20 Minutes on Twitter

by Jayme Soulati on 09/02/2010 in Social Media

There are a couple of things I’d like to share about this post. For starters, it’s too good not to use as an example of inspiration from Twitter. In 20 minutes, I posed a question, and Neicole Crepeau (with whom I had never tweeted) chimed in. In the flick of a wrist, we had:

  • Debated the definition of “guru” in social media
  • Shared data on latecomers to the party
  • Established our respective credibility
  • Agreed on our consensus
  • Became inspired by the chat to ask others to join us
  • RT’ed a bunch of times to show appreciation and respect
  • Retained the tweet stream to repurpose into a blog post WITH permission from both parties.

The true purpose of this stream is to debate the definition of “guru.” That’s not happening today, but it will happen tomorrow in part two of this post.  Ever the educator, I feel the need to share this powerful chat to showcase Twitter’s hidden gifts. And, if you don’t get this type of engagement on Twitter every so often, you’re not engaged! Simple.

Twitter Chat with Jayme Soulati and Neicole Crepeau:

@Soulati How would you define a #SM guru? Someone just said “it’s too early to define a true guru.”

@neicolec Good question! RT @Soulati: How would you define a #SM guru? Someone just said “it’s too early to define a true guru.”

@neicolec: Guru implies a long time doing something. It implies, to me, that you have developed solid, repeatable processes.

@Soualti: RT @neicolec Guru implies a long time doing something. It implies, to me, that you have developed solid, repeatable processes.

@neicolec: Social networks have only become mainstream (in terms of volume and user demographics) in the last couple of years. #SM

@Soulati: I’ve been presenting 5 times this year on #SM; fascinating to see YouTube born 2005. Not a long time!

@Neicolec: To date, most social media marketing has been experimental. Tried and true best practices (beyond basic use) aren’t there. #SM

@Soulati: I find #PR measurement easier with #SM. Best practices come with dedicated companies open to change, flexibiilty.

@Neicolec: While there have been successes in social media and there are big names, I don’t think that equals a guru. #SM

@Neicolec: A guru should be able to teach others those best practices so they can repeat them. Not seeing that much, yet. #SM

@Soulati: There are always leaders. In the case of #SM, perhaps good to delineate “leader” “mentor” “guru.” Good convo; let’s do blog post.

@Soulati: Hope you’re following Neicole and me right now. She’s got some good insight on how we define guru in #SM. We’re not there yet.

@Neicolec: I agree with you re: best practices. A post the other day said social media is now moving from revolution to evolution stage. #SM

@Soulati: Did you catch that nuance — to “evolution?” Hoping it becomes part of the channel, and slow adopters get on board.

@Neicolec: I agree with that. Best practices will be built during this stage. I also agree that there are leaders in social. Not gurus.

@Soulati: OK, you’re on. This is definitely a blog post; I will capture our discussion from this afternoon. OK to include your tweets?

@Neicolec: If you do a blog post, please DM me with the link. I’d love to see your thoughts on the topic.

@Neicolec: Did you see the latest stats on marketing spend. http://ow.ly/2wPFm I think those late adopters are coming on board.

@Neicolec: Absolutely! Enjoyed the tweet talk. A great example of the joys of social media!

@Soulati: Fully agree; thanks Neicole!

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