Social Media Activity is 'Personal'

Here's the proof that social media activity needs to be personal and cannot be automated.

Read it carefully and you will understand why most of the Eave players were dumber than mud.

Also see more from Ric at orglearn.org

The Power of Social Media… Myth?

Is the power of social media overrated? I keep hearing mainstream media talking about "the power of social media". It is my contention that social media has no power in itself, it just facilitates the power of ideas… good or bad, at a much faster rate than in the past. Social media has no power itself. The "Arab Spring" (as an example), was a powerful idea, not a powerful social media event.

When desperate senior executives of confused corporations hear about this social media power I am sure in many cases they race out of their offices and demand an instant social media policy, or better still the instant hiring of a social media 'guru'.  The thinking of course must be… 'we need professional and effective access to this fundamental new source of power'.

Sure social media is a great communication channel, or perhaps more correctly a series of communication channels however the power comes from the power of their brand or the message their brand delivers when it is well matched to their ability to communicate… not as many seem to think… the channel access itself.

In two instances recently organisations have discussed with me the need to set up or get involved with social media. "We need 'to improve the market penetration" and 'customer touch points' is the common catch cry. 

The problem both these organisations have is I suspect similar to that of many others … they don't know what to set up let alone how to operate what they set up. The social media power problem is two fold. The second problem is most don't understand that the power comes from the passion created by their fundamental message rather than the level of activity undertaken on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or any other social media platform. 

The first issue in many cases is badly handled as the need to carry on a sensible conversation on an organisation's social media channels seems difficult, if not impossible for many. Social media operations are time consuming, expensive, labour intensive and potentially dangerous. The second problem is if you have a boring product or a boring message social media will not help you, in fact it may just make the world more aware of how boring your organisation and its product's or services really are.

So remember if you are wanting 'the power' get your message right as well as how it is delivered and be prepared for a long ongoing conversation with your customers. It's all about form and substance and you need to handle both extremely well to be successful in the social media world.

Richard Townsend - orglearn - 'planning is everything, plans are nothing'

The Divided Brain and Society

Richard Townsend Richard Townsend - orglearn - Management tips, free blank resume form, fill in the blank resume sections online.
What managers need to do & the issues to consider in the soft skills area of their role. Articles on behavior, motivation, selling, competence, teamwork, EQi & leadership. Blank resume form with positive examples, handy self-analysis to evaluate the commercial realities of what you have to offer employers.

Why Bloggers Need Triberr

Perhaps the heading of this post should actually be… "Why Bloggers, Tweeters, Google+'ers and Social Media Buffs in General Need Triberr"

I recently asked a bunch of Facebook friends if they used Triberr. Here are some of their responses:

Sarah: I tried to get on, got confused, have not pursued it. Have been invited to join a few [tribes] - got confused again. And, while my confusion may be my problem, I am not generally easily confused or thwarted. IMO, it needs interface work.



Laura: I joined a while ago, when I was joining everything in sight. Have never really used it. :>)



Laurens: Too difficult, even for me. BTW I don't like the "Triberr FB-Bombs" by certain Triberr Members, but the content is great!

Leia: I'm not using it although I have an account.



Joanne: I love Triberr!


So what are the Triberr positives?

Mark Schaefer  of "Grow Blog" says in a post that he liked Triberr because it provided four things: "Fresh voices… who are delivering AMAZING content". "Meaningful traffic" that has "boosted my [his] blog visitors by about 7 percent". "Feedback…"Triberr provides some nice analytics about how your posts perform in the blogosphere".  Finally he states: "It solves a problem. There is a chronic unfairness about the blogosphere. Many bloggers are popular simply because they were there first" and I assume it gives him a chance to compete.

Now I agree Triberr can be a bit confusing to start with and if you are committed it also means you need to share others post in the hope of having them reciprocate. Here however  are a few more reasons, if you are a blogger, why you should be involved.

It sets you up to be a very effective at content curation.and although good authors will perhaps always take the lead as the video below explains 'good curators serve an important and perhaps even a taste maker: role'.  http://mashable.com/2012/05/25/content-authors-curators/

Finding others that blog on your topics can be arduous however Triberr's search makes it quite easy so you can have access to pertinent content to share with your audience.

Thirdly from a social aspect you can make great contacts in the field you are interested in with others who share your passion.

Ric http://www.orglearn.org

Social Media Success It's About TRUST

It's not only about Trust in Social Media it's about the real economy and life itself!

So what are you doing about building a sound reputation for the wired world? How you behave it will effect everything from your ability to get a job to being able to borrow money.

Social Media Engagers Connectors Bludgers and Grubs

If you are involved in social media you will come across many characters who see themselves as leaders, at least in their apparent circle of 'influence'. Unfortunately many social media 'leaders' are not so social.

The appropriate dictionary definition of social in the context of social media is: "Attitudes, orientations, or behaviours which take the interests, intentions, or needs of other people into account (in contrast to anti-social behaviour)." - Wikipedia

Obviously if you are using say Twitter to distribute information or ideas the reality is; once you get above a few dozen or so connections it will be extremely hard, or too time consuming to constantly interact with everyone.

One social media platform that describes itself as "social media rocket" fuel however almost demands by its design and style of operation a level of intimacy, co-operation, trust and reciprocation that is higher than most other platforms. If you are interested to take a look… it is:

http://www.empireavenue.com/RICTOWNSEND

One of the unique features of this social media platform is that you can offer rewards through missions to those that will help you achieve goals in other areas such as Facebook, Twitter Goolge+ etc. This is where the true individuals show their colours. Here is a recent mission I offered:

I won't mention individual players by name however my heading mentions four characters. In reverse order: 

Grubs: They are types that sponge off others, (e.g. in EAve. don't complete missions and just take the reward and run). This group also wants you to everything for them, share boring crap, help them become more notorious by voting them up silly competitions, offer nothing of value… other than that they see themselves as some sort of star or as "giants in their own lunch boxes". These characters often move away from what makes them popular in the first place and expect us love them for who they are rather than for the information they offer. I even saw one guy who offered tech advice do a video scolding his audience for asking what he considered dumb questions. He then started doing personal life videos and wondered why no one wanted to watch.

Bludgers: Well they sort of do stuff however always the minimum. They, in the case of EAve. as an example will do a few likes on a page that you want promoted however thats it. I even did a mission and gave away a large reward for doing nothing, just for being a shareholder and what did a get, a couple of guys didn't even leave a thank you note. These are not my idea of desirable social media types.

Connectors: Well they are numbers freaks. They want to have the most of everything, the most followers, the most accolades, the last word in every exchange and the biggest you know what on the planet. They spam, they manipulate, they just want bigger numbers. Often these types will have in their message or agenda a great idea you just must get involved in and they will flog it to death. These types see you as a potential customer and someone that can help get them what they want.

Engagers: These are the people we all seek. They believe in working for mutual benefit, they'll swap information and advice. They will complete task you want done as they understand the value of mutual leverage. They communicate and they are great to deal with. Many of these characters I believe would be great to meet face to face. These people without knowing it almost compel you to help them through their shear strength of character and demonstrated high levels of personal ethics.

So think about how you appear to others. What do your social media actions reveal bout you? Where you fit? I hope its in the social media engagers category.

Dreaming of the perfect Twitter un-follow app

Yes for some time I followed everyone back… I saw it as polite, however now I need to cull so the app I want looks like this…!

It would automatically un-follow anyone that used the word "I" in their profile and even perhaps send a rude tweet to those that used it more than once.

It would throw out male tweeters who's profile pic showed them shirtless.

It would reject those females that have a profile pic which is 90% cleavage.

I would trash anyone with an animated avatar …kaboom!

It would send off into the centre of the earth any profile that asked me to visit something or worse still, buy their great product or money making scheme!

It would un-follow those that I inadvertently followed not realising they spoke a different language.

It would weed out anyone that mentioned the words God, Jesus, Allah, Christian, Bible, Koran or any other spiritual affiliation.

It would get rid of those that use such terms as husband of, wife of, mother of, father of… who gives a damn we are all (mostly) one of those.

Some people just don't get it… or is it me…!?

Can someone invent it please!!! Just for fun… :-)

"Many a true word is said in jest."

Any particular peeves you have... you may wish to comment,,,,,!

ps: Just list your topic,,, thats what we readers make our choices on, we mostly don't care about your coffee drinking habits, where you are visiting or problems with your health.