@jspepper: I’m beginning to hate @mrtweet.

I felt compelled to respond with the following:

RT @jspepper: I’m beginning to hate @mrtweet. ) Agreed. Relationships should grow organically, not en masse via flawed search algorithms.

@MrTweet ‘s use of the word “influencers” is a misnomer. They have vetted nothing more than keywords. Sigh.

By definition, algorithms solve problems. Mr. Tweet creates problems via enabling Twitter spam. @MrTweet

To expand upon that, I’m wondering who among us would choose an opt-out of Mr. Tweet search, if Mr. Tweet offered one? @MrTweet are you listening?

I wonder if Twitter is listening? Would they block access by one of their, I’m guessing, prized *46K plus followers* popular 3rd party apps? The number of ridiculous requests to follow has exponentially increased since Mr. Tweet came on the scene. Mr. Tweet, it seems, is more than happy to enable others to ping dozens, even hundreds or thousands, of users – as long as it broadens Mr. Tweet’s base.

I’m doubting Twitter would block @MrTweet as the app enables Twitter’s growth. Is @MrTweet a sign of a shark jump on the horizon?

This raises a question. Are third party applications actually detrimental to applications? We’ve seen 3rd party apps cause great unhappiness on Facebook. Now, as Twitter gains prominence, 3rd party apps are making people very unhappy, too.

Sites like Twitter find themselves in a quandry. They want to encourage 3rd pary applications as they help lead to greater numbers of users. The desire for growth, it seems, outweighs caring about spam and the opinions of current adopters.

I haven’t seen a lot of discussion about these quandries, so I’m wondering what you think?

Danika Kmetz, a great PR intern from Illinois State University (and President of her PRSSA chapter), has created two very fun videos with the best kind of testimonials possible. The first is from Hope, a camper at ASCCA’s Teen Week taking place this week on Lake Martin. The second is a mashup of clips from last week’s Adult Mentally Disabled camp.

There are many ideas at work behind these sites. The most important is to provide a look inside camp that will reach out to our campers, their parents and anyone that has yet to consider a therapeutic recreation opportunity.

You might be surprised that engaging people in comments and conversations isn’t as important here. Our clientele isn’t as ‘into’ the social media scene as those that read my blog, for instance. But, with the launch of our social network, ASCCA Friends, we’ve begun to see interaction that never took place in our blogs. ASCCA Friends is built upon the Ning platform.

Now, we are seeing parents and campers engaging in conversations. Just today, for instance, this comment was left by the mother of a camper:

Even though I don’t get to stay at camp with you guys, it’s my favorite place to visit. The 3 and 1/2 hour drive is totally worth it just to be greeted by all of the smiling faces of the staff and campers. Camp ASCCA must be the happiest place on earth. – Denise Brock, Fort Payne, AL

And then there is this one from today, by parent Terri Shaw:

My child is attending Camp ASCCA for the first time this week , July 14th thru July 18th. I have encouraged the camp because he needs time away from parents to make new friendships and to see other children with disabilities.

Now, I ask you. Can you beat this for engaging with your stakeholders?

You may notice, we do not take the ‘poor pitiful crippled child’ approach that so many nonprofits choose to follow. We have fun. We try to show you the reality of working with these children and adults. Again, we have fun. This is real life, folks.

I dare to say, the overall presentation on the sites is something that has not been done before, regarding people with disabilities. If you can show me some site that has done it, please point me to it. The only other ‘real life’ approach I know of is the BBC’s Ouch! Podcast. And, we were online before them. Realistically, in our environment, we couldn’t get away with their ‘very real’ approach, either.

Hey, if these two videos don’t make you smile … I fear there’s no hope for ya’.

Hope is one excited camper

Find more videos like this on ASCCA Friends

Why We Love Camp ASCCA!

Find more videos like this on ASCCA Friends

They sent out an email on Feb. 13 that stated, “Unbelievably, 99 of you had nothing better to do with your lives than to create nearly 200 different badges for Snap Shots–and we love you for it.”

Well, apparently they got some mail about that one. Probably not a good idea to belittle your user popoulation, ya’ think?

So, today they send out an email entitled “We screwed up”. Signed by “Team Snap”, the email states:

Last week, we sent out an email which contained two errors and we’d like to apologize for those. The first was a joke that was in at least one case taken to demean the webmasters and bloggers who’ve placed Snap Shots on their sites. Rather than repeat it, rest assured that nothing could be further from the truth than that. We’re deeply appreciative of the fact that we’re invited guests and want to do whatever we can to be invited back.

The lesson in all of this? Snap.com states it fairly well, writing “As one of our mentors at Snap used to always say, ‘Communication delivered is not the same as communication received.’ So, with apologies for any and all confusion caused by or (sic) last email, we’d like to try again.”

Yet, tonight the site went down for one of their maintenance “massages” and that’s cool. Hey, I knew it was coming and wasn’t the least bit miffed. I’m still not miffed. But, I think there is a lesson here.

Flickr always seems to do this maintenance at good times. It is usually about midnight here when they take the site down. OK, no problem. But, still I thought I’d watch how they do the explanation of down time.

It is the little things that matter when dealing with your customers. I have at least two Pro accounts.

Currently, 15 minutes into their 30 minute massage, the site shows this message.

Yet, when you click on their visit the Flickr Blog for updates message, you actually get the top post for Tag-O-Rama. Hmm? Ruh Roh! You see, it is the little things that count.

Let’s mark this up to a little site maintenance and customer service lesson. It is the little things … like pre-posting an explanation to the blog … that makes that little extra special difference to your visitors. After all, if you’re going to send them somewhere for info … have it ready for them.

Once again, Flickr is still the coolest of photo sharing sites. And, the site is back up now. It only took 26 minutes, not 30. Flickr’s still good.

If you aren’t confused, re: Farmers in Appalachian Valleys, then I’ll appreciate your help – ’cause I am confused. You see, I have never written about Appalachain Valley farmers and press releases (have I?), but apparently Stowe Boyd thinks I did.

The title of this post is but part of a comment left by Stowe Boyd on the post, Blogs are Soma to So Many. At least he liked the metaphor – sort of. His comment is in blockquotes below. I respond.

Stowe Boyd: I think the metaphor is pretty, but misleading. You could make the case that anything that any group advocates is like Soma. I don’t buy it. Blogging is not like taking an anti-depressant. It is (at a physical level) a collection of tools for web publilshing, and (at the societal level) a social medium through which we gain understanding of the world. Not a drug.

Actually, my intention re: the use of the metaphor is as follows.

The assertion that blogging will right the wrongs of poor corporate and organizational communication with stakeholders gives blog enthusiasts solace. Enthusiasts hope and believe that social media’s conversational form will bring relief to the distress of poor customer service and customer relationship marketing / management. So, it is the idea of a blog revolution that serves as your soma. You embrace it as something that will make society and corporations, for instance, co-exist in harmony. And, you seem to expect us to get in line – quick.

I agree that blogging is a medium, but I’m a little surprised that you used that term. Isn’t “place” or “space” the blog-speak appropriate term, along with “people” instead of audience? I wouldn’t want you to be drummed out of the Blog Thought Leaders Club. (See David Weinberger’s JOHO the blog, your own reference to Doc Searls, Dan Gillmor’s The Former Audience Joins the Party, and Jay Rosen’s The People Formerly Know as the Audience.)

Those enthusiasts are, after all, creating waffle words or jargon. (See Milton Friedman.) But, wasn’t this supposed to be the movement that did away with required appropriate norms of speech and definitions. Isn’t it the movement that frees all to speak in their own voice? The implication being, if you don’t subscribe to the dogma, “you don’t get it.” I think Stowe Boyd used that phrase.

Stowe Boyd: Your argument boils down to the fact that established mechanisms of PR have been baked into law and other conventions, and therefore blogging — which wasn’t foreseen when those where codified — shouldn’t be used in place of old timey ideas like press releases distributed by newswire services. I have suggested that we could work collectively to get these conventions, or laws, if necessary, changed.

No, my argument is two-fold. But, yes … we can work to change the old laws. However, it will take a lot of time.

First, you fail to do research in advance of your claims, because if you had, you would have known that there are many more legal reasons – alone – to use traditional news releases. And those required practices cannot be achieved via blogs. I will, if you wish, go into the whole reality that PR is much more than media relations, publicity and press agentry. But, I get the feeling you think that’s all it is.

Second, I assert that you make bold sweeping claims about using blogs instead of news releases, yet you fail to recognize the scope and breadth of PR practice in the world. I suggest to you that many, if not most, of these PR practitioners – the ones I believe you care not to acknowledge – cannot necessarily reach their publics / audiences /people via blogs or any online media. At least not now, anyway. In the future, maybe. Now, nope – not all. At best, they should only use blogs and online as one aspect of a communication mix.

An example of a broad sweeping claim? How about your recent post:

Jack Welch on Corporate Blogging: Just be authentic. Be clear in your vision, and have one message and one view that are authentic. I worked somewhere once where they had different messages for employees, analysts and the press. There should be only one message for everyone, and fight like hell to get that message across everywhere you go.

Stowe Boyd: I don’t how you can do this today without blogging, do you?

I hope you realize that it is possible to be genuine … authentic – without a blog. On television, Walter Cronkite, Ophra Winfrey and even Bill O’Reilly have convinced their believers / followers that they are being authentic. On radio, Paul Harvey and Larry King pulled it off. Even Don Imus is believed to be authentic. In print, Maureen Dowd and Thomas Friedman have done it. So have Paul Krugman and Frank Rich. And you and I both know that local columnists have done it for years. In the military, Ernie Pyle was certainly authentic … and heck, even Gomer Pyle was embraced as authentic by his fans. From the pulpit and on TV, Bishop Sheen and Mother Angelica have accomplished the feat in their respective generations. Come to think of it, authenticity can be achieved going door to door. Alfred C. Fuller started doing it in 1906 selling brushes.

Now you and I may not think they are authentic, I don’t know. But we both know that their audiences – the people they interact(ed) with truly believed they were/are authentic. And, gee. I don’t think any of them ever had a blog. I could go on with many other examples, ya’ know.

Stowe Boyd: But no, let’s instead just keep the status quo. I hear nothing more than “Get a horse!” style kvetching, here.

Well, you may only hear that, but hearing and listening are two different things. I don’t like the status quo, but I realize that it is sometimes all you have – for awhile. Change takes time. It cannot be forced.

I’m not kvetching. I’m reciting reality and facts. I am suggesting to you (practically begging you) to listen to, talk to with, the people you choose to berate (“Don’t get it“) and offer ill-advice. Why? So that you may learn what the realities of their world (public relations and marketing communications) is and how they must deal with that reality. (By the way, do you realize that Shel wrote the first book – Online PR Strategies? It is used in business school marketing classes.)

Stowe Boyd: And, oh, by te (sic) way, the idea that PR folks are communicating directly to farmers in Appalachian valleys through press releases is patently crazy. PR is principally directed to media: newspapers, et al. And they all have internet now, even if they are in Boondocks LA or wherever.

OK, I have to admit, I’m stumped to discern where in the world you pulled the “farmers in Appalachian valleys” line from, but I’ll address that, too. You want “patently crazy”? You offer it.

Are you aware that:

Fifty-four percent of all U.S. farms own or lease a computer, up from 50 percent in 2001. Farms using computers for their farm business increased from 29 percent in 2001 to 30 percent in 2003. It appears that computer usage, ownership and Internet access on farms have begun to level off. (Source: USDA report from NASS – 28th July 2003, referenced at the Pig Site. Love that name. Those swine farmers do their research.)

And, I did an interesting thing, re: the Appalachian farmers, and Appalachia overall … I called the ARC – Appalachian Regional Commission – and visited their Web site (they don’t have a blog, sorry). ARC is tasked with economic development in the vast area of Appalachia ranging from Mississippi and Alabama all the way up to New York and Pennsylvania. Their role includes developing better connectivity to rural areas for business development, distance learning and overall education.

You know what I found?

Links to the future reports – 2000 and an update from 2004 (based on 2002 data) and other reports.

There is even this PDF file of the Information Age Appalachia report from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

Now, in there you will see that even broadband (cable and DSL) access is limited. ARC does not have statistics on phone service availability, as the FCC compiles that in their Wireline Competition Bureau Statistical Reports (formerly FCC-State Link).

Suffice to say, regarding phone service, the ARC suggests that most people in Appalachia have phones (and thereby, possible access to dialup). Perhaps +95 percent have phones. Now, that doesn’t mean they have internet service. You see, there are not sufficient statistics (that I can find – and I asked ARC) on availability of ISP services in the broad areas of Appalachia.

Oh, and about that broadband access – for using YouTube and other social media networks requiring great internet access – the ARC says beware. The statistics compiled by the FCC – re: availability – is greatly over stated. Why? Well, in their sampling, if there was only one person in the area (defined by zip code) with broadband access of any kind, the FCC counted the whole county as having broadband access. Not very trustworthy statistics, are they. Gee, the swine farmers seem to be doing a better job. Bad FCC!

Now, the ARC is doing great work. They also realize they have a long way to go. They are trying to encourage thinking about planning – like laying of conduit and ethernet cables in new construction (buildings, roads, etc), but only where it makes sense – economic sense for the developers and phone/cable/ISP companies. That’s just a small part of what they are doing, but I think you get the point.

All that to say, Stowe, your claim that news releases to print publications in order to reach farmers (and others) is “patently crazy” is — well, “patently crazy.” Um, it is the print and broadcast mediums (radio/TV) that still seem to have the edge in Appalachia.

Guess how you reach them?

Well, I would suggest a mix of traditional tactics and perhaps online – all in a strategy that mixes the right approach for each media outlet / market.

Finally, when you state, “PR is principally directed to media: newspapers, et al.”, you reveal how little you know about public relations and marketing communications. I’m not suggesting that you, “Don’t get it”, because I think you get a lot. Still, Shel has a book. You might want to read it. If you want a copy, leave a comment. I’ll send you one.

OK, I’ve been a little snarky. I apologize. I’m really not trying to fight with you, Stowe. I’m begging you to at least try and see it from other sides of the discussion. There are many sides, you know. I promise not to come and try to tell you how to run your startups.

And, while we agree on medium, Todd Defren reminds us all that it is the message that matters most. But, then … you know that, don’t you? /Message

So, there ya’ go.

In the past, I have written about Cornell.edu Redesign: Why it is a good blog and the student initiative of BuzzFlood :: Dartmouth Blog/CMS PR Tactic.

Andrew Careaga, of higher ed marketing, recently shared news from his university, the University of Missouri-Rolla, about a new “name change” blog. See the release: UMR News and Research: Weblog shares info about potential name change.

Last October, UMR Chancellor John F. Carney III proposed a discussion about changing the university’s name to one that better reflects its role as a technological research university.

“The University of Missouri-Rolla is unique among the four University of Missouri campuses because of our focus as a technological research university,” Carney said. “We believe a more distinctive name would afford UMR several advantages in recruiting students on a national level.”

I’m enjoying watching the conversations. It is new, yet they are already getting traffic.

The most exchanges, thus far, have taken place on a post about Alumni survey results: 70% (of respondents) favor name change. You can tell that the respondents feel ownership of “their” university. It is fun to read.

Go over and check it out. Thanks to Andrew for the tip, too. I love these kinds of blogs.

Related Links:

• Name change conversations – Missouri-Rolla
• Cornell University – cornell.edu Redesign
• BSU.EDU Relaunch
• collegewebeditor.com: web, marketing & PR in higher ed, Karine Joly – the keeper of all things higher ed web.

…UAB Web Communications maintain(s) the UAB front door and coordinate(s) UAB’s official Web pages…

The links are divided into six sections. The are: Introductory Sites, Marketing via Social Media, XPRL and Standards, Books, Podcasts and the Loveliest Village class exercises.

This was to be a follow up presentation which grew out my recent visit to the Internet Professionals Society of Alabama at the Saint Vincent’s Bruno’s Center.

I hope I may one day make it up to the UAB Web Communications Group. I offer my apologies for not being able to make it on Friday.

Here are the links:

Introductory Sites and two books
Blogrolls, Resources, Aggregators, Meme Rank, Social Media Marketing Examples

• Bloglines list of hundreds of PR/Marcom blogs – maintained by Constantin Basturea
• Constantin Basturea’s NewPR/Wiki
• Top 10 Sources list of PR Marcom educators that are blogging
• Constantin Basturea’s PR Cripy News List
• Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web: Books: David Weinberger
• The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual: Books: Christopher Locke,Rick Levine,Doc Searls,David Weinberger

College Marketing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management/Marketing) and PR via social media

• Ball State’s Real Life blogs with video/audio – excellent implementation of social media for student affairs
• Karine Joly’s College Web Editor blog – a great read and resource
• Cornell University’s redesign project blog
• Ball State’s redesign project blog
• The Gator Nation is going to offer free blogs to alumni

Examples of Marketing via Social Media

• Purina Pet Podcasts
• General Motors Podcasts
• NASCAR Podcasts
• Mission SEC – CSTV podcast
• Hugh Macleod – How social media put his client on MSNBC.com
• Stormhoek Wine gets on MSNBC
• Stormhoek Wine blog
• Hugh MacLeod gets his client on PRI (Public Radio International) via social media – English Cut
• More on the PRI placement of English Cut
• English Cut blog

Social Media Club and Web Reporting Standards

• Social Media Club
• Todd Defren’s Social Media Release (SMPR) – HTML format
• Todd Defren’s Social Media Release (SMPR) – PDF format
• Social Media Club works on setting standards for reporting/releases
• Microformats – the structure the SMPR is based upon
• XPRL – Publication standards for PR reporting (schema, semantics, lexicon)
• XPRL in practice (.doc file)
• XBRL – Business Reporting language (schema, semantics, lexicon)
• Who is using XBRL
• NewsML – News markup language
• Who is using NewsML

More Books (Amazon links)

• Small Pieces Loosely Joined: A Unified Theory of the Web, by David Weinberger
• Podcasting: Do It Yourself Guide: Books: Todd Cochrane
• Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (Hardcover), by Will Richardson
• The Power of Podcasts: universities explore mp3 technology as a new marketing tool.(INTERNET TECHNOLOGY): An article from: University Business [HTML] (Digital), by Karine Joly
• Corporate Conversations: A Guide to Crafting Effective and Appropriate Internal Communications: Books: Shel Holtz
• Blogging for Business: Everything You Need to Know and Why You Should Care: Books: Shel Holtz,Ted Demopoulos
• How to Do Everything with Podcasting (How to Do Everything): Books: Shel Holtz,Neville Hobson
• The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual: Books: Christopher Locke,Rick Levine,Doc Searls,David Weinberger

Other Podcasts

• For Immediate Release – Business communications podcast
• Camp ASCCA’s YouTube Videos
• Camp ASCCA’s Google Videos
• Camp ASCCA’s MySpace blog – must be logged in to view it
• Ouch! Podcast – BBC’s disability podcast – think Monty Python and Benny Hill meet disability
• Medical Library Association podcasts – not presented in social media platforms
• List of 52 medical podcasts – not all are presented in social media platforms

Auburn Classroom Example Sites

• infOpinions? – AuburnMedia
• Marcomblog – Online Mentoring
• PRBlogs.org – Free blogs for PR practitioners, educators and students
• Camp ASCCA Journal – Social media for nonprofits
• Camp ASCCA Forums – niche forums for widely scattered populations
• Loveliest Village – Students learning social media
• Loveliest Village blog – articles/posts and podcasts
• Loveliest Village class wiki
• Loveliest Village Newsroom – classroom exercise with social media releases
• The Loveliest Village SMPR template

Paul descibes the new blog as:

It’s what Yahoo! is all about – the culture, the traditions and some dabbling of current hot topics in the general tech realm. You don’t have to be a Computational Media major at a top 10 public university to understand what’s going on. User interaction is encouraged on Yodel Anecdotal.

Please note that we’re talking about Yahoo! – a corporate giant – giving this kind of responsibility (and opportunity) to an intern. I think that’s amazing, admirable and to be saluted. Now, Paul doesn’t seem like your average intern, so that may play into this a bit. But, the willingness of a company like Yahoo! to offer this to an intern just blows my mind. Yahoo! has won me over in yet another area.

Sounds like a good idea for a corporate blog, too. Looking forward to reading this one.

Paul’s work (and his group) is quite impressive. Congrats!

A little side story is the choice of the blogging platform used for Yahoo’s corporate blog. MovableType’s ProNet discussion group – mostly developers – are a little bummed that WordPress was chosen. But, the unique aspect is that Yahoo! let the intern go with a platform he felt comfortable with – instead of one that was suggested (but not demanded) by IT. I think that’s commendable. Also, Yahoo! offers hosting for both platforms. So, either platform would be fine for the blog.

Is it a coup for WordPress? Sure. WordPress is now the platform of the Official Yahoo! corporate blog. That’s pretty cool. But, both platforms have gained from acceptance and adoption by Yahoo! over recent years. See Yahoo! Web Hosting and WordPress.

I do think that WordPress is continuing to erode Movable Type’s market share and if I were Six Apart, I’d be worried. Even the latest version of Movable Type 3.3 is encountering problems. The rebuild function of Movable Type makes it a “clunkier” platform than WordPress, in some/many instances. We’ll see how Movable Type’s viability plays out in the future.

Links:

The blog and discussion:
Introducing Yodel Anecdotal – PaulStamatiou.com
Yodel Anecdotal
About Yodel Anecdotal
Yet another self-serving corporate blog!

Discussion about the blogging platform chosen (WordPress):
Photo Matt » Yodel Anecdotal
http://www.sixapart.com/mailman/private/pronet/ – Discussion at ProNet (registration required)

Two Reviews:
IMlog: Corporate blog: Yahoo! vs Google 1 – 0
Yahoo Yodels With New Blog

Say “Hello” to Your Inner Customer (If No One Answers, You’re in Deep Trouble)

A recipient of the campaign had this reaction:

She noted that “speculation about who could have sent (the campaign’s promotional item) caused tremendous anxiety and fear. (She) had a heightened sense of attention to (her) surroundings at all times, started to carry mace and was looking into purchasing a new phone with caller ID.”

But wait, this wasn’t a Mace marketing strategy or one of their campaigns. Mace wasn’t the intended client to benefit from sales driven by the marketing strategy. They had nothing to do with it. And, I’m betting they wouldn’t want sales driven by this kind of campaign.

This may be the first CRM campaign – or marketing campaign of any kind – that so scared recipients it caused them to actually fear for their lives.

Yep, that’s a pretty bad CRM campaign.

Facebook is a bane of my, and other educators, existence. For anyone that deals with computer labs, the site has an addictive quality for students that surpasses crack and heroin. OK, a bit over-stated, but not far from the truth.

Still, all that I can deal with if I have to on a day-to-day basis. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had to make a student close the site. My real concern? The potential for harm that may come to one of my students is what really bothers me. Students are too willing to share any and all information about themselves. They do not take the precautions they should by making their portion of the site only available to friends – people they actually know and want to interact with online. They do not always leave off personal information. They too often post photos that may attract undesirable attention.

We have our own little goofy stories of students posting too much personal info and then having it come back to bite them. The one we most often refer to is the student that posted her life’s activity schedule from class to tennis playing online. She also had her phone number, home address and class schedule on her Facebook site. Then, one day she was stunned to be out playing tennis and receive an unwanted visitor. She reported to her friends that this “creepy” guy showed up at the tennis court and said he found her through Facebook.

My point? We have no idea if any assaults may have already occured via this kind of online stalking. I don’t want any to take place and therefore try to educate my students about the potential dangers. Facebook should be doing it, too. Collleges, high schools and parents – all of us – should be doing this, as well. The danger is too real.

I wonder if any actuarial tables already exist in C-suites and venture capital offices when the purchase or support of a social media site is being considered. The risk is high, I’d bet. It is untested in court, I imagine. Can Facebook and MySpace, etc. show that they have (a) provided enough cautionary advice to users and (b) made them go through enough hoops to assure the users have read all that cautionary evidence? I doubt it. Is it encumbent upon them to do so? I think it is. But, they likely won’t do it until forced to by a court case or overwhelming bad publicity. So, until then, the duty must lie with us to help protect the students.

Read Fred’s article and take it to heart.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Education, Risk

posted using performancing firefox