My Views on Twitter

Prompted by the article “The Twuth About Twitter” written by Bob Bly, I thought I take the time share my views about Twitter.

Until a few weeks ago, I was on the Twitter bandwagon.  For several months I followed the advice of those who are more Twitter-savvy than I and maintained a Twitter presence (in addition to my Facebook and LinkedIn presences).

There is so much talk about connecting and conversing with your Twitter followers, but I just don’t see that.  I hear things like “join in the conversation” all the time.  With Twitter, I just don’t see how that’s possible.  First, there is the 140 character limit; it’s hard to say something of value in a short amount of real estate.  And when you do reply to something, the recipient may have no idea what you are tweet you are referring to.  So where’s the conversation???

In my opinion, Twitter is the internet version of radio/TV commercials, or so it has become in the marketing world.  Tweet a link to your product.  Tweet a special promotion.  Tweet a blog post.  This is all advertising—ONE WAY COMMUNICATION.  It is not a conversation, which requires more than one person (unless of course, you are talking to yourself).  So when the experts say “Twitter’s all about the conversation,” I just don’t buy it.  It’s free advertising, plain and simple.

So is Twitter an effective marketing tool?  It could be.  My thought is this:  tweet your products, promotions, articles, etc., but don’t waste your time trying to create a dialogue with followers.  Twitter is too cumbersome to use as a communication tool.  Instead, use a Facebook Fan Page to converse with current and potential customers.  The interface is designed for conversations and is easy to use—this tool is worth the time investment.

A Generation of Social Media

Facebook demographics and what it means to your business.

I came across an interesting article in the May 2009 issue of  Intercom.  The article, “The Generational Effect on Social Media,” discusses how the difference in age is an indication as to the likelihood of using social media applications.  Author, Rich Maggiani, brings up some very good points.  Among them is the communication preference of each generation: Baby Boomers prefer face-to-face, Gen Yers were born “plugged-in,” and Gen Xers hover somewhere in the middle.

It is no surprise that the conclusions drawn in the article point to the Gen Yers as being the social media gurus, “while the rest of us struggle to engage.”  At first read, I agreed with the article.  But the more I thought about it, I did not agree 100%.

Truth be told, I am a Gen Xer and not too far from the Gen Y border.  But unlike those a few years my junior, I found no real use for social media.  That is until about a year ago.  In that time, I have seen a proliferation in the number of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers getting involved in social media.  This got me thinking:  Are the conclusions in that article accurate?   In a way, they are.  And when it comes down to all faces of social media, it is probably pretty darn accurate.  But in one little corner of the social media world, I believe it to be somewhat inaccurate.

Facebook is one of the most popular social media applications available.  It’s pretty simple to use and offers a myriad of ways to connect with other people.  From status updates, to group discussions, to cute little “game” applications, a lot is available to suit most anyone’s interests.

Friends and family use Facebook to keep in touch and share photos.  Groups of people are coming together to share their passions with other like-minded people.  Businesses are using Facebook to connect and interact with their customers and prospects.  It is a truly powerful social media tool and it is no wonder people are flocking to it.

Turning back to the generational aspect of social media, I dug up some information to support my theory about Facebook.  According to the 2009 Facebook Demographics & Statistics Report, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are getting on board with social media and at an astonishing rate.  Currently, there are over 200 million active users on Facebook.  Among those, nearly 7 million fall into the 35-54 age range (up 276% from six months earlier) and nearly 955,000 are 55 and older (up 194%).  Combined, these folks make up roughly 20% of all Facebook users.  According to the report, the 35-54 demographic has been doubling every two months.  That said, it’s likely that both demographics will continue to increase for some time.

It’s quite possible, as I’ve witnessed over the last several months, that Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are joining Facebook because it is one of the easier tools to use and helps them stay in touch with family and friends.  Regardless of why, the point is they are using it.  More importantly, they are joining groups, participating in discussions, and becoming “fans” of products and services. 

So if you are a business targeting people in these demographics, a Facebook Fan Page may be something you want to consider in your overall marketing strategy.  It will give you an opportunity to connect with your customers, and more importantly, interact with them.  Remember, Baby Boomers like face-to-face communication, and it’s nearly impossible for them to do that with big businesses.  Finding alternative ways to interact with them is key and providing a virtual face-to-face opportunity through a medium such as Facebook may be the answer.

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*Data from the Facebook Demographics & Statistics Report, as of 4 January 2009.
*Intercom is a publication of the Society of Technical Communication.

5 Social Media Gurus You Should Be Following on Twitter

These five gurus are a must-follow for social media insight.

• Mari Smith – Social media consultant and Facebook expert.
• Denise Wakeman – Blogging expert.
• Jason Alba – Author of I’m on LinkedIn, Now What???.
• Mike Stelzner – Social media enthusiast and creator of the Social Media Success Summit.
• Ann Handley – Social media and Twitter expert.

Facebook: Friend or Associate?

More and more, people are beginning to realize the benefit of using Facebook as a networking and marketing tool for their business.  But many people also want to use this social media tool to be, well, social with family and friends.  So how can you effectively utilize Facebook for both personal and professional use?  The answer is quite simple:  filters.

When Facebook redesigned the look and feel of the site in March 2009, more user-control over various elements came with it.  The ability to granularly decide who sees what was finally possible. 

So how can you take advantage of this?  To start, you must first have your friends arranged into lists.  Then, to control the content those groups see, you need to change the privacy setting for each Facebook application.  Likewise, you can filter whose statuses you see.

Friend Lists

I have six different lists:  Following, Friends, Family, Professional, Genealogy, and Writing.  Three of these categorize my friends by type, while two are reserved for friends that share special interests; the “Following” list I will explain later.  You might start out with the basic three (friends, family, and professional) as you can always add more lists later.

To create a Friend list:

1. Click on the Friends button in the top navigation bar.
2. Click the Create New List button.
3. Enter a name for the list.
4. Choose the friends to include in that list.

Tip:  When adding a friend or accepting a request, place them in the appropriate lists.

Application Privacy Settings

Privacy settings for applications differ from that of your overall account.  Essentially, you can dictate per application who can see what.  For example, let’s say you use Notes to share personal information that perhaps you wouldn’t want your professional contacts to see.  In this case, you would set the Notes settings to allow only friends and family to view your notes.

To change application settings:

1. Go to the Applications menu in the bottom toolbar.
2. Choose Edit Applications.
   
3. Change the Privacy Settings for each of the applications you want to control.
1. Click the Edit Settings link.
2. Under the Profile tab, change Privacy Settings to Customize.
3. Choose Some Friends.
4. Enter the list name(s) of those you want to give permission to.

Filter Who You See

When you have a lot of Facebook friends, it can be cumbersome to keep up on everything.  This is where the friend lists become even more invaluable.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a list called Following.  In that list, I place the people that I really want to keep track of.  It’s a mixture of family, friends, and professional contacts.  Instead of the default News Feed, I choose this list to display when I come to my Facebook home page.  Now when I come to Facebook, it only shows me statuses for the people in that list particular list.  I can check out the statuses of other friends by clicking on another list in the menu on the left.

You can change your home page to display a list of your choosing by placing the desired list at the top.

 

Tip:  You can also filter out certain applications.  If you don’t want to see who’s Superpokin’ who, hover over the top-right corner of the status and chose the appropriate action from the Hide menu that appears.

There you have it.  A way to keep your personal and professional life separate on Facebook and to see only what you want to see when you want to see it.