Digitalia | Indianapolis Social Media Marketing

Social Networking Meets Game Consoles

There used to be a time where you could play video games for video games and use the computer for computer related things. These days it is all different. Microsoft's game console, the Xbox 360, has announced that it will be officially rolling out its latest Dashboard update, which includes Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm. The PS3 has also announced it will be officially rolling out its latest Dashboard update, which includes Facebook. Social networking… Welcome to the new and highly integrated gaming world.

This is something very new and very exciting for many console users.  This will allow you to play some of your favorite video games and have the ability to check Facebook, Twitter, and Last.fm all through your console.

Here is an excerpt about the integration with Facebook and the PS3:

“By linking your PlayStation Network account to your Facebook account, you will have the option for the PS3 to automatically update your Facebook News Feed with Trophy and PlayStation Store activity," writes PSN director Eric Lempel. "This update also enables developers to set specific criteria in their titles to publish additional game information to your News Feed. You can then check out your updates, and those of your friends, on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media favorites through the PS3’s built-in web browser.” Availability? “Soon.” @game_on

One downside of the integration is unless you have a USB keyboard, or an Xbox 360 keypad, you'll have to input text by tapping buttons and pulling triggers with your gamepad.

With social networking now leaving the computer and moving to mobile and game consoles, where does this put us? Will people adjust and use game consoles more for their social networking or will they stick to the traditional mobile/computer devices. What do you think?

Article by: Zach Reed // Firebelly Designer (Follow me @bluetidepro)

Social Media Marketing

Courtney Love gets sued over tweets

Libel lawsuit hits social media

It has been a long-winded discussion in the communications law world: How much control should the government have over the Internet? People argue many of the following: It’s supposed to be the free medium. It’s impossible to control. Even if laws are made, how will they be enforced on such a vast, virtual medium?

The feds have been trying to answer these questions since the Internet hit it big. But they have a straight answer concerning libel and defamation claims because those laws are fairly universal across any medium.

What is libel? In its most basic form, libel is written defamation of character (as opposed to spoken defamation, which is slander). The greatest defense against a libel claim is truth. The judge will say to you what many people say when you make a claim, PROVE IT! Journalists tend to go by the practice of, if you don’t have three sources confirming the statement’s truth, one of them on paper, don’t print it.

Journalists know all about libel. It’s impounded into their brains in college. But for non-journalistic folk, many of whom are now blogging and Tweeting on the Internet, these laws may not be known. This can cause major trouble.

Case in point: Courtney Love vs. fashion designer. The known party girl and rock chick allegedly slammed the designer via a Tweet, triggering a libel lawsuit that would have been unheard of just a few years ago. According to CNN, the suit claims that after a disagreement over what Love should pay the designer, Dawn Simorangkir, for the clothes she designed, Love took to Twitter with her anger. She posted allegedly insulting and false comments about the designer, i.e. that she had a “history of dealing cocaine.” (Love’s Twitter account is now disabled.)

The CNN article cites several other similar cases that don’t involve celebrities but do involve social media. Read the article in full to learn more.

As a college-educated journalist who has taken intense communications law classes, I know the designer will have to prove a few things to win her case, including that Love’s statements are, in fact, false and that they caused damage to her reputation and/or business.

But should Tweets, status updates and statements made in Youtube videos or blogs be liable for a libel or slander lawsuit? I think everyone—journalist, public figure or otherwise—is responsible for the statements he or she makes. If you make a potentially damaging statement in a public way, you better be able to prove it’s true. Otherwise, like Love, you may be swimming in court fees and by-the-hour law firm bills.

Thoughts? Hit me with them!

Alyson (Follow me @alyandthecity) Social Media Marketing

Twitterese — The new way to speak online

Twitter users are using Twitter terms. Tweet is a popular verb. Twitter is a common noun. They’re used in their Tweets but also in everyday speak. But just because a Twit is using the lingo doesn’t mean he or she is using it correctly.

I’ve created a collection of Twitter words and their definitions to help make the Twitter lingo illiterate more able to walk the walk and talk the talk.

(list compiled with assistance from Twittonary and Twictionary)

   

• co-twitterer: a partner that tweets on your Twitter account

• dweet: tweet sent while intoxicated

• mistweet: a tweet in which one later regrets

• politweet: a political tweet

• twaffic: Twitter traffic

• twalking: walking while twittering via text

• twead: to read a tweet from a fellow twitterer

• tweeple: Twitter people, Twitter members, Twitter users

• tweeps: Twitter people that follow each other from one social media/network to another

• tweetaholic: someone addicted to Twitter, so much so that it may be an actual problem

• tweeter: a user of Twitter

• tweeterboxes: twitterers who tweet too much

• tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat

• tweet(ing): the act of posting to Twitter

• tweets: posts on Twitter by twitterers

• tweetup: a Twitter meet-up

• twiking: biking while twittering via text

• twinkedIn: inviting friends made on Twitter to connect with you on LinkedIn

• twis: to diss a fellow twitterer; twitter burn

• twitosphere: community of twitterers

• twittastic: fantastic, wonderful, superb

• twittcrastination: procrastinating on Twitter

• twittectomy: an unfollowing of friends

• twitter stream: a collection of tweets

• twitosphere: the community of tweeple

• twitterati: celebrity twitterers

• twitterness: a person’s contribution to the twitosphere

• twitterlooing: twittering from a bathroom

• twitterage: rage at a twitter post.

• twitterrhea: the act of sending too many Twitter messages

Next time you hear a Twitterer use a Twitter term incorrectly, hand them this list to aid in the twiteracy (Twitter literacy) of the tweeple in the growing twitosphere.  If we’re all on the same page, it reduces the risk of getting lost in Twitlation.

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

Social Media Marketing

Tweetie 2: The Best iPhone Twitter App

Tweetie 2 is the successor to the popular original Tweetie iPhone app by atebits. It is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, now! It is rewritten from the ground up with a fast and powerful new core, Tweetie 2 offers the most polished mobile Twitter experience around. Tweetie 2 is so far ahead of every other iPhone Twitter app, it's astounding. It’s got a cleaner look, a few extra features, and most importantly, it’s much faster.

*Writing a new tweet*

The greatest feature in Tweetie 2 is its offline powers. They're great. Not only does it cache tweets to read offline, but you have other Twitter capabilities, like adding favorites, which are synced up the next time you go back online. A basic drafts manager lets you store and edit tweets to send later.

*Twitter stream*

Key Features Listed:

• Persistence  
• New message indicators
• Scroll up to reload
• More third-party service support
• Live-filtering search
• New tweet options
• “Nearby” button
• Draft manager  
• New tweet stream options  
• Notifications  
• Create iPhone contacts from Twitter profiles  
• Saved searches  
• Landscape
• More threaded conversations
• Video support

3 Flaws:

• No real syncing with desktop app
• No real push notifications
• Costs: $2.99 (BUT WORTH IT)

If you've never paid for a Twitter app or even if you have, Tweetie 2 is well worth the three bucks that it costs. It's fast, it's got full offline powers. It's not perfect, but it's the closest yet. Buy the app today and tell us what you think! :)

Article by: Zach Reed // Firebelly Designer (Follow me @bluetidepro)

Social Media Marketing

STOP Over-Tweeting about your kids, cats, dogs, etc.

For real, you love them coz they're yours. Share those pics in person or on facebook - its right, its nice, its got more capabilities for comment chains, and more. Twitter just ain't the place. One is enough. Tamagotchi may be a bit harsh, but that is hilarious all the same!

We'd love you to call out tweets that fit this category! If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list - click here. BTW Thank you Matthew Inman, you're a funny funny man!

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

Stop tweeting your DailyBooth photos NOW

Remember Narcissus. He dashed all his suitors - male and female aside - to fall in love with his own reflection. While twitterholics or people who base their entire social media marketing communication strategy on Twitter (nice redundancy Duncan) will disagree, the great conversation on there is a shadow of itself. Perhaps, you can thank Oprah and Ashton Kutchner for that - I personally will not thank Ashton for anything and find him as substantial and interesting as a baked potato chip, but thats another story. If we've seen one photo of you on twitter, that is probably good. But really you've hardly changed since yesterday. And believe me, no one buys that you're thinner since yesterday. I'm definitely a leaner when it comes to photos (only to satisfy my own silly insecurities) but at least I don't burden all my associates with it. Keep those photos on Flickr, keep them on Facebook, keep them in your wallet, keep them in a box that you can bury for future generations to find - just keep them off my twitter feed. Out.

 

We'd love you to call out tweets that fit this category! If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list - click here. BTW Thank you Matthew Inman, you're a funny funny man!

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

Oh yeah, and I'm dedicating this song by an American icon to you. Only she didn't write it about you ;)

Stop tweeting out of context

Just like real life, people expect and appreciate conversation protocol. Listen, wait till the other person is done, spatial mores are different in different cultures - these are just a few of the expectations. Conversations are not just two way - they can have many participants. While speaking out of context can be funny in person - its usually not the rule. It can certainly be funny in the theater during a play or a film (in terms of actors not audience). But lets face it, as much as we'd all like to think we're actors - we're not. I'm sure there are lots of self-centered companies and people (read: ad agency execs who are usually skin deep and certain executives from psuedo digital marketing firms) that think everyone is constantly watching their twitter feed and so should immediately know what they're talking about. Before you get worked up, remember I'm saying its ok to speak out of context from time to time. I've just had it with the people that do it all the time.

We'd love you to call out tweets that fit this category! If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list - click here

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

Stop tweeting about your emotional break throughs

I'm sorry to say but 140 characters doesn't do your self actualization justice, and frankly no one gives a shit (on twitter anyway). Go to facebook or find some friends. If that doesn't work, try commiserating with the world on fmylife. Of course a shrink can help too. But aren't you tired of people that talk about all kinds of emotional progress. I am. 

So get over yourself, and give us all a break. Or we WILL unfollow you. I'm not just sayin' coz we know thats just plain passive aggression. I mean it. We're over the hype. And, thanks to the dynamic Matthew Inman from The Oatmeal for designing these. 

 

We'd love you to call out tweets that fit this category! If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list - click here

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

Stop tweeting about the # of followers you have

Matthew Inman who runs The Oatmeal site posted this recently. It's a top 10 list, but I think they're so good that we're going to feature them for you, our attention deficit reader, one at a time! No one cares about how many followers you have unless they're a mis-directed social media or PR firm that will give you more or less importance based on your primary and secondary reach. And I say, since when did it become cool to not think every one is important (regardless of reach). 




If you're a deep diver and want to see the full top 10 list - click here

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

Stop Tweeting. Start Meeting. Twitter Girl Video Rocks.

I know you know a person like this. Unfollow them!

A few months ago - I got to spend a few minutes with Guy Kawasaki and talk about his twitter philosophies.

I'm taking Guy's UFM policy and applying it to the space cadet tweeters. I must also give credit to Ari Herzog - who shared these awesome videos for Jewish New Year. Basically, the annoying things that were somewhat permissible in 2007 and 2008 with regards to twitter are definitely NOT cool anymore. For example, tweeting during actual real life conversations is definitely not ok. Check out this video. The take away. Stop tweeting constantly. Start Meeting more!

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm | Social Media Marketing

The Tweet-peat: To be continued?

Social media marketing during a TV show could be a win!

I hope you were a part of the TV history that occurred last week. The Fox network held the first ever Tweet-peat, a repeat of a program episode accompanied by live cast Tweets, last Thursday and Friday with two of their up-and-coming shows — “Fringe” on Thursday at 9 p.m., “Glee” on Friday at 9 p.m.

While other networks were simply broadcasting their programs in an old-fashioned way, Fox called in stars of these two programs to Tweet while the episode aired. Said chosen stars Tweeted answers to fan questions, discussed behind-the-scenes anecdotes and offered hints to upcoming plotlines. In other words, it was a live, social media commentary. Viewers could choose to follow and reply live on their Twitter accounts via hashtags (#Fringe and #Glee, respectively) and/or watch the stars’ Tweets filter on the bottom of their TV screens as the episode aired.

If you tuned in, you’re aware things didn’t work out as planned, as often happens where technology is concerned.

During the “Fringe” broadcast, the TV screen box filtering the Tweets sat about halfway up the screen, frequently blocking characters’ faces and items they were gesturing towards or holding. There were mixed reviews about if this miscalculation was a problem or not. Obviously the scrolling graphic needs to be altered for future Tweet-peats, but, as many commentors stated, the episodes were repeats, so many viewers had seen the episode already and tuned in simply for the additional Twitter feature. If they wanted to watch the episode without the Twitter graphic, they could watch online at any time.

Other viewers just thought the entire thing was annoying and distracting, whether it was blocking portions of the screen or not. The main complaints were that the text constantly changed, and the profile pictures of the accounts bouncing across the screen were a little over-the-top.

Compromise: Keep the hashtag part, lose the TV part. This approach will eliminate the distracting part of the Tweet-peat strategy while keeping the behind-the-scenes interaction that hardcore fans tuned in for. Everyone wins.

What approach do you think Fox should take to the Tweet-peat revamp? Fox has got a great new media idea going here. I hope they make the correct adjustments to make Tweet-peats a weekly occurrence.

 Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

People between 12 and 24 are using twitter more

Kids usage of twitter up according to Silicon Alley Insider

I'm a fan of Dan Frommer's Chart of the Day pieces. This one is particularly interesting. Here's a direct quote and the chart, followed by some questions for you to ponder.

"While Twitter's user base historically favored older users, people between ages 12-24 have been Twitter's fastest growing age group of late. And now that age group is actually disproportionately visiting Twitter, according to comScore. This chart shows comScore U.S. unique visitor stats for different age groups. A "100" score means that age group is represented among Twitter's user base in perfect proportion to how much that age group uses the Web as a whole. In July, people ages 12-14 scored a "121" -- meaning they were represented among Twitter visitors 21% more than they were represented among total Web users. And that's up from the mid-70s -- significant underindexing -- on Twitter six months ago.  In summary, if comScore's stats are accurate, people between ages 12-24 are using Twitter, and a lot more are using it now than before."

So here's the questions (some are sort of pseudo-statements)

1. 35 - 54 seems odd but I might be able to palate it.
2. 25-34 makes sense. Hell even 55+ makes sense. 
3. But 12 to 24? Some are pre-teens. There are teens in there and there is the totally different (IMO) 22-24 demo. Very weird.
4. Clearly someone under 24 is using twitter a hell of a lot more. That's good news I think.
5. 2 to 11? This needs actual evidence in my opinion. This just seems wild!

What do you think?

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm

Social Media Marketing

Need a movie or music review? Ask Twitter!

This weekend brought a revelation in my social media life. My friends and I were looking for a movie to see, but we didn’t know what was out and good. While the others in my group were texting friends and reading movie critic Websites, I turned to good ole’ Twitter for help.

Starting at my account’s homepage, I found two Trending Topics were about movies — District 9 and Inglourious Basterds People were talking about them, so I took that as a good sign I would find the opinions I was seeking. Although many of the Tweets were simply about plans to see the films, a good number were 140-character reviews. Convenient, yes! But where they more helpful than the word-of-mouth of friends or reviews by the pros?

The reviews for District 9 were mixed, about half Tweeting it is “like most way over-hyped movies” (@sportsandpoker), while others Tweeted it is “amazing. The best movie of 09.” (@DeadmanCX7). Because they were so wishy-washy, my friends and I decided to skip this one.

Moving on to Inglourious Basterds, I found not just Tweet-style reviews but full-length blogs reviewing the movie. These Tweeters aren’t critics; they’re your average movie-goer sharing his or her thoughts on a film like you would in the ticket line. The reviews weren’t about complicated cinematography or how this work compared to the creative team’s past work. They were simple, to-the-point reviews that answered my one and only question, “Is this film worth my money and Saturday night or not?”

By this time, my curiosity was extremely peaked. I remembered the new Reba McEntire album came out earlier in the week, so I decided to search and see what Tweeple were saying about it. I searched the title of the album, “Keep On Loving You,” and was greeted with several links to Amazon to buy the album. This caught me off-guard because I was seeking reviews from fans, but these Web links were helpful because they showed me that the album was in the Top 10 country albums for the week. I finally found a review saying the album “runs my life” and said listening to the album at work “doesn’t get any better than that,” so I decided to give it a shot, and I can safely say my Tweeters did not lead me astray. The album is great (but that’s another blog for another place and time).

Summary: Turning to Twitter for music and movie reviews is a great way to skip the professional lingo and get straight talk. It’s quick. It’s convenient. And it gives answers!  Downside of this approach: Spammers add Trending Topics to their Tweets about filling out surveys and free money that have nothing to do with the topic. It’s annoying, but you can skip through them easily enough.

Let me know how else you use Twitter to help make decisions. I know the possibilities are endless…

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity) social media marketing

 

CHART OF THE DAY: Twitter's Boom Around The World

Question: how many legitimate active accounts are there?

Dan Frommer had a nice piece yesterday on Silicon Alley Insider. Here's the piece.

Over the last year, Twitter's traffic has exploded 15X to 44.5 million worldwide unique visitors in June, according to comScore. But Twitter's growth story isn't just limited to the U.S. and North America, where only about half its traffic comes from, according to comScore.In June, Twitter attracted 11 million visitors from Europe, 7 million from Asia Pacific, and 4 million from Latin America -- a total 22 million uniques from those three regions, up from about 2 million the year before. (Note that this shows Web traffic to Twitter.com, and doesn't include traffic via mobile phones, text messaging, etc. In other words, it's not a direct measurement of Twitter's membership. But it should be directionally correct.)

Some immediate thoughts:

• Twitter IS a world wide social media phenomenon
• Its probably significantly higher because of the high usage of mobile phones in Asia and Europe
• Whats the percentage of spam accounts on there?
• Is Twitter's growth fueled by word of mouth? I think Yes.

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm

Successful Twitter Promotions (prize NOT included!)

Twitter can help humanize a brand

Twitter can be used for countless promotional strategies. A company can do everything from holding a contest for a new slogan to giving away a prize to the person who Tweets the most creative use of a product.

These uses of the social media service are common and effective. But how would a strategy more unique and risky work?  For instance, what if a Broadway musical used Twitter to put on a viral version of their show? Would it be an overnight success or closed at curtain?

The creative team of the off-to-on Broadway musical “Next to Normal,” proved an online performance brings in big followers, as the The New York Times recently featured. By creating Tweets from the characters in the play, the “Next to Normal” Twitter account  more than quadrupled its followers in less than one month’s time. Then, once the actors began answering followers’ questions through the account, numbers continued to grow. The account now has more than 550,000 followers.

The Tweets also brought in ticket sales. Followers quoted in the article shared they saw the show because of the fictional messages. And after the cast’s (non-fictional) performance on the Tony Awards June 7 — the same day the viral version of the musical ended on Twitter — the show’s house went from 72 percent to 99 percent capacity, according to the Times article. (The entire transcript of Tweets is available on the “Next to Normal” website.)

This strategy had me wondering what other industries could use a similar tactic to gain followers. What if a sports team Tweeted players’ and coaches’ reactions to a game during the broadcast or reality TV shows had their cast members Tweet reflections about events in each episode as it’s airing. One of the many things I’ve learned from Duncan is that social media is all about closing the gap between company and consumer and engaging in an online dialogue. Although these situations wouldn’t be fictional, like the “Next to Normal” approach, and there are probably some crazy legal things I don’t know about that would hurt my suggestions, they would engage the audience without a contest or giveaway, shaking things up a bit in the online promotional world.

What other industries do you think should adopt a similar promotional strategy? How would they execute it?

Please share! You know I love to hear your thoughts!

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

The Hype Cycle: backlash for micro-blogging coming

So is the social media hype beginning to end?

Just read this on business insider's chart of the day. I agree with one of the comments. Who cares about Gartner? What do you think?

14 years ago, a Gartner analyst named Jackie Fenn created the Gartner Hype Cycle -- a chart that maps the way media and consumers perceive technology as it is introduced into culture. Gartner just updated the Hype Cycle for 2009. It predicts a big backlash coming for e-Book readers, microblogging and cloud computing.How does the hype cycle work? First the technology is invented, or "triggered." This leads to an incredible amount of hype, very quickly. Then not much happens right away, people get disappointed, and the tech is mired a "trough of disillusionment." But then, almost so slowly it's hard to notice, we enter a "slope of enlightenment," where we realize just how useful this technology will be. Then we hit the "plateau of productivity," where we all know what we have in the tech and use it for what it is.

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm

facebook acquires friendfeed: Some thoughts.

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. So, it makes sense that they'd buy Friendfeed and use it to make people able to share more and be more connected.

“Facebook and FriendFeed share a common vision of giving people tools to share and connect with their friends,” said Bret Taylor, a FriendFeed co-founder and, previously, the group product manager who launched Google Maps. “We can’t wait to join the team and bring many of the innovations we’ve developed at FriendFeed to Facebook’s 250 million users around the world.”

Some thoughts:

• Clearly real time search is the future.
• Will people resist bringing all their content - professional and personal - into one place? I predict that there will be a high rate of integration and lots of fall out as well. Twitter might be a better option for staying connected with shallower information. 
• Friendfeed has never really been adopted by the mainstream but it does have some cool features. Being shut down will piss some people off. Who cares I guess.
• Its cool that the founders are cashing out.
• What will this mean for twitter? Is this a #fail for twitter long term? What will twitter do?

Thoughts?

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm

Client bendin' you over?

Indianapolis' Scofield Editorial captures vendor client relationship dark side

If you live in the marketing, PR, social media, website, or any related field - you can feel this Youtube video. The metaphors are spot on. The virality was presumably driven purely by word of mouth - I'd say email, facebook, and twitter. Its very clever. Here's a quick look at some of the results:

• Comments: 1,079
• Favourites: 7718
• Ratings: 3.053
• Average rating: 4.91

Consider that this video is B to B, and the 1,013,255 views are more impressive. Also interesting is that the most popular demographic is male 35-64 broadly. Nice job, Scofield Editorial - I'd say they deserve an award for great Indianapolis social media usage! Content is king! I'd be interested to see how they've used the virality to generate additional business.

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz | Blip.fm

Professional Tweeple Unite!

Like me, I’m sure you’ve had a day where you’ve been sitting at your desk wondering what other professionals in your chosen industry are Tweeting about right now. What are the business world’s top executives concerned about this morning? What are some of the nation’s top journalists investigating right now? Are Britney Spears and Taylor Swift touring or enjoying the summer off? Sure, you could find their individual pages, but who has the time for that trouble?

Thankfully some high-tech Tweeters have created Web sites that solve both of these problems, compiling Tweets of top industry professionals into one place. Think of them as your one-stop shops for all things talked about in your industry right now…well, at least in Twitterland.

AthleteTweets

-“Covering athletes covering themselves.” That’s what AthleteTweets is all about. Check out what your favorite athletes are Tweeting about at any given moment. Then share a favorite Tweet on Twitter, Facebook, Digg or any other source by clicking ‘Share This.’ A list of all athletes’ Tweets being fed to the Website are listed along the bottom, right-hand side of the page.

CelebrityTweet

-If you enjoy gawking at celebrities, CelebrityTweet is the virtual version of The Ivy in Los Angeles or the Plaza Hotel in New York. This Web site allows you to “stalk celebrities on Twitter,” as its tag line boasts. Sign in with your Twitter username and password, and you can reply to and retweet without leaving the page. A list of the celebrities’ Tweets fed into CelebrityTweet is listed on the right-hand side of the page, as well as a short list of Today’s Most Talkative celebs. Clicking on a Tweet allows you to see how many times that particular celeb has Tweeted that day and week. A link to Youtube videos featuring the celeb are also provided when a Tweet is chosen.

ExecTweets

-If you’re not under a social media rock, you’ve probably been familiar with ExecTweets for quite some time now. And you are also probably well aware that no matter what industry you’re in, knowing what the top business professionals are discussing is beneficial. We’re all business people in some way or another. On ExecTweets, you can view the latest Tweets from business gurus across the world and sort them into ‘most popular’ and ‘featured’ categories. If you sign-on to ExecTweets, you can directly reply to the Tweets without leaving the Website and vote for those Tweets you find most beneficial. The most popular business Tweeple and top links on ExecTweets are listed down the left-hand side of the page.

Muck Rack

-Muck Rack is a personal favorite of mine, being the news junky that I am. Each Tweet includes the journalist’s picture, Twitter URL, name, position and news outlet. And it’s not all print. Radio and TV are filtered through the listings too. What’s really nice about this site is you can group the tweets into beats and sources. If you want to view tweets about business only, click on the Business Beat. If you want to read CNN’s latest tweets exclusively, click on CNN under Sources. Muck Rack even lists trending topics and the day’s top tweeters along the right-hand side of the page.

As I was searching through these pages, I found 10 new people to follow, so there’s another perk of these sites. Find people you didn’t know had Twitter accounts, and get following!

If I left any websites out, please feel free to share in a comment below. Happy Tweeting!

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

Is twitter betting on search?

If you don’t have an automatic log-in, you likely noticed the debut of Twitter’s new homepage <www.twitter.com> earlier this week. It’s bright. It’s blue. It’s simple.

And it’s all about the search.


Behind us are the days of explaining Twitter. Enough people know about it now. It’s time to focus on searching, which is what makes Twitter stand out from the pack of social media outlets. It’s all about information in the most efficient way possible, and what better way to accomplish that than by placing a search box and the hottest trend topics on the homepage, categorized by the minute, day and week?

Upon discovering the new homepage, I immediately questioned the reason for the revamp. After a quick comparison of the old and new homepages and reflecting upon social media industry changes over the years, it seems to me Twitter is changing directions. Twitter is no longer aiming to serve as a place to build relationships. (That’s what Facebook is for.) Twitter is for information; to find out what’s being talked about in the world right now.

One of the most common reason I hear for why people haven’t joined the Twitter craze, or have an account and rarely log-on, is that they don’t see the point of constant status updates. Now, you and I know that’s far from the purpose  — with the exception of public figures — and Twitter knows it too. So Twitter marketing execs have decided to cater to these confused potential users by pitching Twitter as a search tool, rather than a social networking site, in an effort to get them hooked with the easy-to-use search box and trend topics, then reel them in with the quick and efficient search results that allow users to feel knowledgeable and relevant. 

The right move? You tell me.

Alyson (follow me @alyandthecity)

Current TV does it again with Celebrity Twitter Overkill Video

Lain (follow @lainerbainer)

Are Facebook Vanity URL's pointless?

After the buzz - what is it worth?

We’ve all noticed the similarities between Facebook  and Twitter lately. Since trying to purchase Twitter earlier this year, Facebook has faced a sort of identity crisis, adopting the question-based status updates, revamped news feed and, most recently, the vanity URL.

Now, people say the vanity URLs add a personal touch to social media and allow users to jump directly to specific pages, rather than searching through hundreds of fans. Seems useful and efficient — exactly what people want and need…in theory.

Clicking through a random sample of every 10 of my 620 friends, 18 had vanity URLs registered. That’s 29% of my profile’s friends, which actually surprised me considering how little I hear Facebook vanity URLs discussed. In the entire Facebook population, the personalized Web addresses are even more popular than among my personal population. Within the first three minutes of the feature’s inception, 200,000 people had registered a custom name. Three days later, nearly 6 million users had jumped on the bandwagon, according to a survey conducted in June.

Despite its quick rise to fame, it seems the feature has flatlined since it was introduced in mid-June. Are vanity URLs on Facebook pointless? On Twitter, they make perfect sense. Tweeple use Twitter for information more so than pictures, videos and other personal information many seek on Facebook. Facebook is about relationships, while Twitter is about networking.

Therefore, it makes sense that if a Twit wants the latest updates from CNN, they will go directly to @cnnbrk. No muss. No fuss. The information you want, and only the information you want. That’s what Twitter is all about.

Facebook…not so much. I guess it might be useful for individual public figures and larger corporations with Fan Pages, who use Facebook in much the same way they use Twitter. But for individual profiles, I don’t see the need for a vanity URL.

Final rant: Where do you find a Facebook profile’s vanity URL? It’s not listed anywhere on the page. It’s not listed when you search a user. You can only make use of the shortcut if the user informs you, and who really remembers to do that? Again, pointless.  Rant over.

Alyson (Follow me! @AlyandtheCity)

Best of the Web - Twitter Resources (Apps to Icons)

Sometimes with these trendy new social media sites you can be lost or confused but here are Firebelly we are here to help. The following resources can help your Twitter experience into an even better one! Whether or not you are new to Twitter, you will find these resources very useful and handy. Enjoy!

Articles

"How Twitter helps designers" // A great article that includes a handful of tips to help designers with Twitter.

8 Useful Tips To Become Successful With Twitter // A supurb article that explains 8 ways that you can become more successful with Twitter.

Application // Downloads

Tweet Deck // The best (from what I have heard and seen) desktop Twitter app (that uses Adobe Air) that can track everything associated to your Twitter account ("Tweets", "@Replies", "Direct Messaging", etc.)

Twitter Feed // A service that will automatically tweet any post that you publish on your blog.

TWT Poll // A feedback tool that helps you to create and distribute polls on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites.

Free PSD Twitter Background Template // An Adobe Photoshop file (.PSD) of a Twitter background to make the most out of your twitter page look and feel.

Icons

400+ Beautiful Twitter Icons for your Website // Literally, hundreds upon hundreds of Twitter icons ("birds", "follow us", etc.) to use in your designs.

Statistics

Twitt(url)y // A very unique tool (But very neat) - Each time someone tweets a URL to their followers on Twitter, it takes note of it and applies it as a vote for that URL. The more votes a URL has in the last 24 hours, the higher it ranks on Twitturly's Top 100.

Twitter Counter // A very powerful system that allows you to see top "tweeters" and view their number of updates, friends, followers, etc. You can even find your own statistics here!

Twitter Holic // A very similar tool to "Twitter Counter" but much more simply. It allows you to see "tweeters" in real time and see individual statistics.

Article by: Zach Reed // Firebelly Designer (Follow me @bluetidepro)

Celebrities Escape Death via Twitter…sort of

Don’t let the hackers have their way. Research before you retweet. 

Celebrity deaths have been the lead story on every news outlet lately. First Ed McMahon last Tuesday (July 25), then Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson Thursday of the same week (June 25). Sunday (June 28) it was announced that Billy Mays, popular infomercial personality, passed away in his Florida home unexpectedly. 

Many people, including myself, found out about these deaths from a social media site, rather than through TV or a newspaper. In the hours before and after the announcement of MJ”s death, 30 percent of the total activity on Twitter consisted of tweets about the King of Pop. His name shot to the top of the Trending Topics on the Twitter interface and remains there as I write this blog.

Amidst all the mayhem of the shocking surplus of deaths, Tweets announcing the deaths of Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres and Natalie Portman (just to name a few) appeared on Twitter Feeds across the world.

It’s unimaginable that so many celebrity deaths could occur in such a short time, right? Definitely.

Ford, Goldblum and Portman were all reported to have fallen off a cliff while filming a movie, plummeting to their deaths. It must be the fickle finger of fate that caused all three actors met their maker in the same manner. Actually, it’s anything but fate — it’s FakeAWish. This site creates fake news stories about celebrity deaths based on user suggestions. The story format resembles those of Yahoo, which is to blame for most of the confusion.

For Spears and DeGeneres, Twitter hackers are to blame. Both accounts tweeted announcements of the stars’ deaths, unbeknownst to the celebrities/handlers themselves who run the accounts. Spears’ account even ran a special tweet denouncing the rumor, confidently stating Britney is “fine and dandy spending a quiet day at home relaxing.”

A quick Google search could prove any of these obits false, but how many people take the time when so many legitimate deaths are occurring? Does all the noise mask social media sensibility?

Don’t let the hackers have their way. Research before you retweet. 

Alyson (@alyandthecity on Twitter)

Social security

Are you getting burned out? Feeling anxious?

* this was written and posted to my friend Bruce's company's blog. It seems more and more relevant so I'm posting it for you'll to read!

As the leader of a company, and a self-confessed extrovert, I’m constantly communicating: phone calls, e-mails, IMs, Facebook and Twitter messages, blog posts and comments, presentations and panels. It’s a pretty exhausting list, and each has its own unique set of protocols and time commitment.

I’ve noticed that while new avenues for interaction increase communication opportunities, my ability to effectively use these various tools is diminished a little each time I add a new one. Not to mention that adding too many social media tools decreases my ability to spend time hanging out in real life, where, let’s face it, the majority of business and real conversation happens.

Social media conversations have their place—to create and maintain connections based on shared values. They allow us to connect in a deeper, ongoing sense with people without a lot of effort, and that’s a plus.

And yet, there is a growing sense of anxiety that we can’t keep up with it all. While I’m committed to a few online communities and platforms, I will not sacrifice my face-to-face connections. Nor do I want to transition all my online connections into the face-to-face environment. At the same time, I will never shut myself off from connecting with more people. Social media conversation for sure, but face-to-face conversations as well! Consistently and with passion!

But that’s sometimes easier said than done. Are you feeling this same anxiety? And how are you handling it?

Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz

The time has come

Yes, everyone. It's time. Time for this little intern to spread her wings and fly from Firebelly (or be pushed out of the next unexpectedly by Duncan. You choose the visual you prefer!) and venture back into the world where commoners don't understand social media and all of the opportunities it presents; back into the world where aren't thinking about what they need to Tweet or how they can update their status every second of every day; back to a world where I must defend my social media obsession and repeatedly explain why it's so important to thrive as a functioning human being in this computer-driven day-in-age. I have been so spoiled here at Firebelly and learned so much. 

What have I learned? Can I write a novel to answer this question? No? Well, then I'll summarize a few of the major things:

Social media is a conversation, not a lecture: As I've written in a previous blog, social media can't work as a marketing tool if there's no response. You can tweet or update your status all you want about what's coming up next or something new going on at your company, but if you don't respond to comments/advice/feedback from your followers/friends, they'll lose interest. They won't feel connected to you or your company, which is a major purpose of social media marketing. So respond. Be interactive. Take the time to reply to at least one response each day. It will pay off in loyal followers and more personal communication between producer and consumer.

Video is an extremely effective marketing tool: People read and comprehend. They see and comprehend. If they can do both at one time, that's most effective for the company marketing to people. Studies show that people remember 10 percent of what they see, 20 percent of what they hear and 50 percent of what they see and hear. Utilize that statistic by registering for a Youtube page and updating it frequently. Furthermore, people recall 80 percent of what they see, hear and do. So if you can make your videos interactive (i.e. instructing them to click links, get up and do this, anything at all interactive), your videos will be the most effective they can be towards your marketing goal.

Twitter is a legit obsession: Yeah, yeah, I know everyone said this about Facebook, Myspace and every other social media networking Web site that's out there and will be out there in the future. However, Twitter is a rare breed. When you learn how to use it properly, you can't live without it. My TweetDeck is my best friend. As a news junkie, I visit at least 10 news-based Web sites daily. Because I follow them on Twitter, TweetDeck allows me to collect all of those sites' updates in one place and have them fed to me as they are updated. It's pure heaven! I also RT people consistently as a way of giving mad props to someone's thought or Internet find. On the marketing side, #hashtags make searching for what your customers are talking about extremely simple. Learn how to use Twitter to your marketing advantage. You won't regret the time (and/or money, since time is money, as smart business people say) spent on the effort.

Lastly, and most importantly, I learned I love social media and wish to continue working with it in the future. Based on how popular it is now, I don't think that wish will be difficult to grant. I will be continuing my interning life in New York City this summer at an organization that is in the rookie stages of incorporating social media into its marketing strategy. I know I will take the lessons I learned at Firebelly to help that currently small component of the organization to grow into a driving force (like a heard of cattle, right Duncan?)

I send so many thanks to Duncan and the rest of the Firebelly team for allowing me so many opportunities and being so willing to teach me everything they know in the short time I was here. I hope to continue writing/editing/blogging/social media'ing for them in the future.

Alyson (@ Twitter)

Twitter apps with the most followers

Twit and tweet have become two of the most popular words in Web language lately, it seems. Twitter has so many applications developed to make it more accessible and convenient for followers, it’s hard to keep track anymore.

To make social media life a little easier, I've compiled a list of the Top 20 Twitter Applications and written a one-sentence description of each. (Ranks are based on monthly unique visitor numbers from Compete.com.)

Photo by AnthonyCarlucci/Flickr.com

Twitter Applications 

1. Twitpic – share your photos on Twitter 

2. Tweetdeck – personal browser for Twitter

3. Digsby – live newsfeed for Twitter

4. Twittercounter – track follower numbers on Twitter

5. Twitterfeed – feed your blog to Twitter

6. Twitterholic – track which Twit has the most followers

7. Twhirl – desktop client for Twitter

8. Twitturly – tracks/ranks what’s talked about on Twitter

9. Twtpoll – create a poll on Twitter

10. Retweetist – track what’s being retweeted

11. Tweepler – process new followers

12. Hellotxt – update your status on all social networks at once

13. Twitdom – Twitter application download database

14. Tweetscan – Twitter updates via e-mail or RSS

15. Tweetburner – tracks links shared on Twitter

16. Tweetvision – see where people are twittering in the world

17. Twitterfall – Tweets delivered in waterfall fashion

18. Monitter – enter keywords to see what people are saying

19. Twibs – browse Twitter businesses

20. Twistori – tracks specific words in tweets and feeds them

Feedback

Which have you used? What do you like/dislike about those you have used? Which do you think are the most useful?

Share your thoughts. Let it out. Pent-up thoughts are never good for anyone.

~ Alyson ~ @ Twitter

Social media is a conversation, not a lecture

During my last couple months at Firebelly, one of the major things Duncan has taught me about social media marketing is that it is a conversation. No matter what network you’re using, if someone responds to a tweet, writes on your wall or sends you a message, the key to gaining loyal followers is to respond.

Social media is a conversation, not a lecture.

Because I am in my early 20s, I’m going to use Jimmy Fallon as support for my point. On his new talk show on NBC, Fallon is all about using social media to connect to fans (See my past post on his social networking chops for more details). 

Although Fallon uses Facebook, vlogs, blogs and everything in between, Twitter is definitely his most popular social media site.  On the day this blog was written, Fallon had around 598,000 followers. (I’m estimating the number because during the 30 minutes it took me to write this blog, his followers jumped by 500). Comparatively, NBC’s “The Office” Rainn Wilson, who has the same target market of 18 to 25-year-olds as Fallon, has roughly 398,700 followers.

Although their follower numbers aren’t too far apart, the activity of both gentleman is vastly different. Both men @ reply. Both men retweet (@RT). Both of these activities make conversation with fans, so both men are doing as Duncan instructs. They help fans feel engaged. Knowing your favorite celebrity is reading your comments and taking the time to respond builds loyalty unlike simply tweeting without responding (aka using your Twitter as a diary rather than an instant messaging system) ever could or will.

But Wilson could kick it up a notch. Let’s take a look at the numbers on Tweetstats.com for both gentlemen’s Twitters to demonstrate why in facts and figures.

Jimmy Fallon

Tweets last month (March): 349

Tweets per day last month (March): 7.5

Replies To: 58.23% of total tweets (more than half of his tweeting is @s!)

Rainn Wilson

Tweets last month (March): 179

Tweets per day last month (March): 4.8

Replies To: 14.12% of total tweets

See the difference? It can be inferred from this information that if Wilson stepped up the tweeting, @s and @RTs, he could also increase his followers to hit Fallon’s following number in no time.

So if you’re trying to market yourself or your business, get @ing to your followers! Answer their questions, respond to their direct messages, be engaged. Your fans will feel connected to you and, therefore, be loyal. And loyalty is the key to any good marketing strategy, whether personal or for your company.

~ Alyson ~ @ Twitter

Twitter is hot. Revenue is not.

Everyone knows about Twitter. Many are tweeting instead of — or in addition to — texting. (If you aren’t, please check it out so you’re in the know. You can’t fight social media. It’s bigger than all of us).

Twitter is such a phenomenon that morning talk shows have started covering the social media networking Web site because, as crazy as it seems, people in the morning show target market are interested. Yes, that means retirees and stay-at-home parents have moved into the realm of social media with college students and recent college grads. (The “Today Show” did a detailed piece last week, if you’re interested in checking out a summary of the service.)

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

But that’s not really the point of this post. The point is that despite Twitter’s ever-increasing popularity  — Compete.com sets the site at third in ranking of largest social networks behind Myspace and Facebook at roughly 6 million users in February 2009 — the company is not yet turning a profit.

Why? In the “About Us” section of Twitter’s homepage, an answer to the question “How do you make money from Twitter?” is listed. To paraphrase, the statements says the company has received many offers but wants to concentrate more on developing user services. “While our business model is in a research phase, we spend more money than we make,” the answer states.

Since Twitter isn’t jumping on the cash train after two years of operation, other Web sites are. If you snooze, you lose, right? Well, I’m not sure Twitter is losing anything — the company was recently predicted to be worth $250 million — but it will be wise for the company to team up with these sites once they get their money-making plan up and running.

German start-up Magpie & Friends would be a great partner. The company recently began paying Twitter users for the right to sell ads in their tweets. Advertisers typically pay $13 per ad, and registered users get a cut of the check for lending out their tweets. To make the money, Magpie collects a series of keywords that advertisers would want to associate with their ads, like iPhone or NCAA. The advertisers then bid on those words. The winning bidders’ ads are paired up with a registered Twitter users’ message streams, and VOILA! The ad is seen by the users’ followers. Money is made. All is content in capitalism.

Social media blog Mashable is also cashing in on Twitter but in a different way. The blog recently began soliciting brans like JetBlue and MailChimp to pay to have their tweets featured on its Web site alongside the normal banner ads.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said the company is already keeping an eye on sites like Magpie and Mashable as it prepares to launch a fee-based service later this year. And collaboration is very much in the picture. 

“We want to work with those companies that are already making an effort,” Stone told The Wall Street Journal.

But until that time, Twitter is taking small steps in the right revenue direction. In a recent interview with “Media Money” of CNBC, Twitter CEO Evan Williams said his company plans to work with its larger corporate users, like Zappos.com and The New York Times, to “make it more valuable for them in a way that also benefits users.”

Just this week, ExecTweets, a Web site that posts tweets of the nation’s top business executives, announced it is giving Twitter its first taste of revenue. The Web site is putting display ads on posts from business execs and giving a cut of the revenue to Twitter.

What do you think is next on Twitter’s revenue plan? How will they turn a profit when the service is free? Will users be willing to pay? 

Alyson (@ Twitter)

Firebelly Talks Twitter With Guy Kawasaki At SES New York

Firebelly's Duncan Alney had a chance to "talk Twitter" with Guy Kawasaki at the Search Engine Strategies conference in New York. In this video they discuss "true influence" on Twitter, re-tweeting, Guy's follow and unfollow philosophies, and, yes, even Britney Spears.

Duncan has been, and will continue to be, live tweeting from the event all week. Follow it all on Twitter at @firebelly