Social Media Jackass

by Phillip Rhoades on February 18, 2010

(The following is a personal view expressed by Phillip J Rhoades formed under the influence of caffeine and annoyance)

  • Are you a blogger (aka citizen journalist)?
  • Did you put your contact information up for everyone to find?
  • Are people contacting you about news in the field that you report on?
  • Are you complaining because you’re being contacted?
  • Did you “friend” someone on facebook and then complain about what they post, suggest, or send you?
  • Did you follow someone on twitter and then complain about how many tweets they send out?

If the above sounds like you, then you are probably a Social Media Jackass. Buck up, shut up, and listen. You signed on for all of this. You made yourself a public persona and posted your contact information for people to find. You will receive pitches for both stuff that you actually think is cool and stuff that only the creators think is cool. You made this a part of your life and it’s time you owned up to it.

If you’re complaining about “spam” on facebook or twitter, shut up. You opted into those channels of information and you can opt out at any time. Just click unfollow or unfriend or whatever. Wow, that’s hard, so very hard, oh my god, how could I ever expect you to simply click on a link or a button. . . oh wait that’s not hard at all.

Look, stop being an idiot. Stop acting like receiving an email, or a page suggestion on Facebook, or a tweet (direct or otherwise) is some sort of personal violation. It’s not. It’s just simply not. You’re a big boy or girl and it’s time you started acting like it.

You don’t like receiving emails? Don’t put your contact information up. You’ll miss out on a lot of cool press releases, information, etc, but that’s what you want, right? To speak to the world, but to never have the world speak to you. See? Easy, just remove your contact information and no one will ever contact you again.

Don’t like the volume or quality of posts, statuses, updates, or whatever that someone on twitter, facebook, or social media website x has been posting, just unfollow, unfriend, or unwhatever it happens to be on that site. It’s pretty easy and saves everyone involved a lot of trouble. Plus you get to just quietly ignore someone who was annoying you instead of looking like a whiny little twit.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Team Southwest vs. Team Silent Bob

by Ellie Brown on February 16, 2010 · 3 comments

Which side are you on in this Twitterrific customer service debate between Southwest Airlines and director Kevin Smith aka “Silent Bob“?  I can understand both sides of the story, but personally, I’m with Team Southwest.  But Team Southwest but only because I think their communications team handled the situation well, not because of their customer service. Let me explain. [click to continue…]

{ 3 comments }

Doing It With Buzz

by Phillip Rhoades on February 16, 2010

Gina Trapani over at Fast Company wrote a great article about How to Do Everything in Google Buzz (Including Turn It Off). The best piece of which I think is how to post a buzz so that only certain people can see it:

You can use Buzz like you would Google Reader–to just keep up with your friends’ social network streams from around the web. But you can also post status updates via Buzz, and limit who can see those updates. From the Buzz posting text area (which looks a whole lot like Twitter’s), add your text, links, photos, or videos, and from the drop-down choose Private to limit access to that post. Check off the Contacts groups who are allowed to see the update.

Make sure to read the rest of the article for the other great tips.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

The Old is New

by Phillip Rhoades on February 15, 2010 · 1 comment

Steve McKee over at Business Week says that Social Media Is Nothing New:

Who hasn’t recommended a product to a neighbor, received a tip from a colleague, or asked for a referral from a friend? From grocery store aisles to cocktail party asides, the “social media” we’ve commonly called word-of-mouth or relationship marketing have always been the most trusted form of outreach.

In the last few years, however, a dramatic transformation has taken place in this oldest and most effective form of media. It’s been a cause for celebration for many, confusion for others, and consternation for a few. What it should not be to anyone, however, is surprising. It’s the same transformation that has happened to industry after industry, from computers to cars, televisions to telecommunications.

Social media has gone digital.

He’s of course absolutely right. Social media has always been with us, but now the digital era has allowed everyone to speak across greater distances and to more people than ever. Social media and word of mouth have moved beyond the regional and have become global.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

{ 1 comment }

Social Media Marketing Success in Latin America

by Chris Abraham on February 13, 2010

http://www.travelnotes.org/LatinAmerica/images/stham2.gifWith over 180 million internet users and 900% growth rate since 2000, there is no denying it; audiences in Latin America are massively moving into the online arena and what used to be predictions are now reality. Incredibly enough, this is not the main reason why we see an unbelievable potential for social media in these markets. The main reason is the culture.

We have invested our resources in finding a very diverse staff that is in touch with cultural trends in Latin America. We were moved to do this after watching numbers like mentioned above and the growth of Twitter, Facebook, Orkut and blogging amongst others. There are a few facets to the Latin American culture that present a great opportunity for social media. We fully understand the particular cultural differences within these countries, which is why we chose a diverse team that will work with the highest cultural knowledge whether it’s in Mexico or Brazil.

What they do have in common is the need to be part of the conversation. Generally, the whole web has grown to be this way, but what makes Latin America special is the way that opinions are expressed. The interaction surrounding blog posts is incredible. There are millions of blogs in the region and we are proud to be one of the first Social Media companies to explore the market and already have a track record of great success in Latin America.

Abraham Harrison has worked with international companies that expanded into this market and with local companies that needed professional assistance. The results were above even our own expectations and above what our clients could even imagine. As the information age progresses into an increasingly globalized world, our strong presence in Latin America is guaranteed by our strong engagement and conversation skills.

Via Abraham Harrison

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Register with Team USA for tomorrow’s Winter Games

by Liza Peiffer on February 11, 2010

Tomorrow marks the first day of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, BC.  Years of training, hard work, discipline and relentless dedication have given the great athletes of Team USA the right edge to grab that gold.  To make sure you keep track of who is skiing the fastest and skating the hardest, register with TeamUSA.org where fans get chance to take part in all of the action.  GO USA!

Register at TeamUSA.org and you will:

  • Receive exclusive updates during the Winter Games
  • Get the inside scoop, event by event
  • Hear directly from our Olympic athletes as they chase their dream
  • Be able to download photo and video highlights, right to your desktop

There is more than one way to get involved with this year’s Olympics.  Show your support by making a donation or becoming a member the Sixth Ring.  Check out TeamUSAnews.org and get ready to rally behind the great USA!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Google Is Buzzing

by Phillip Rhoades on February 11, 2010

Over on Digtal Next David Berkowitz is having an argument with himself about the new Google Buzz:

Hyde: It feels just like Google Wave, one of the more disappointing of Google’s product launches. It had so much promise and became irrelevant so quickly. I don’t want to get duped again, so this has to be a dud.

Jekyll: It’s nothing like Wave. One of the biggest problems Wave had was that it wasn’t integrated with anything. The whole point of Buzz is the integration — it appears in Gmail; you can read and respond to updates from any Gmail client; and it integrates a number of social media services.

Hyde: It does nothing for marketers, except to provide more impressions for those sponsored links that run in Gmail.

Jekyll: Wrong again, as marketers participating in social channels such as Twitter, Flickr and YouTube can find their content and messages spreading even further as more people use Buzz.

Take a look at Learning, and Trying to Love, Google Buzz and let me know what you think.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Our Client, Global Classifieds Giant OLX Expands in Brazil

by Priya Malla on February 10, 2010

Huge Growth Expected in Leading Latin American Online Market

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – (February 4, 2010) – OLX, already present online in 90 countries, has announced the opening of a new office in Brazil. OLX.com.br has grown by 450% in the last two years and already counts 14 million visits per month in Brazil, with more than 1 million published items. The online classifieds company expects continued strong growth, aiming for 20 millions visits per month in 2010.

“The new office complements OLX’s presence in Latin America and allows us to be closer to our local clients, create marketing action plans and provide better technical support and stronger client relationships,” says Rodrigo Ribeirão, head of operations of the new Brazilian unit. Through those efforts, OLX anticipates attracting an even bigger Brazilian customer base, advertising and buying and selling online.

OLX offers seven categories of ads: real estate; autos, motorcycles and boats; community; classes; jobs; meeting people and services. The market for autos, real estate and jobs has the highest demand, representing more than 1 million ads published in Brazil and around 40 million around the world.

OLX sees Brazil as a very promising market since the country already has 67 million internet users and 14 million of them visit the OLX.com.br site every month. “We see Brazil as one of the most attractive online markets in the world. With the largest and most mature online market in Latin America, our goal in having a local presence is to better understand the Brazilian internet user and adapt our products to the needs and preferences of the local buyer and seller. Furthermore, with the opening of the Brazilian office, we expect our local activities to grow by 175% in the next two years, reaching 3.5 million active ads on the site,” explains Alec Oxenford, founder and CEO of OLX.

About OLX

OLX is the next generation of free online classifieds. OLX is used in over 90 countries in 40 languages. The company was co-founded in March 2006 by Internet entrepreneurs Fabrice Grinda and Alec Oxenford. OLX is privately held. The company is based in New York, NY and Buenos Aires, Argentina and operates two leading online classifieds networks hosted at www.olx.com and www.mundoanuncio.com. For more information, visit: www.olx.com.br

CONTACT:
Fabrice Grinda
Co-CEO
OLX, Inc.
#(917) 371.5441
fabrice@olx.com

Is there an expiration date for Twitter?

by Ellie Brown on February 9, 2010 · 1 comment

Much like milk with no expiration date, no one quite knows for sure when (or if) Twitter will go sour.  And it seems like everyone these days has two cents to add to the Twitter hype debate.  I can’t blame them.  It’s fascinating stuff.  Twitter’s ascension to become one of the top dogs of social media has been great fodder for every PR, marketing and business blog, magazine, newspaper out there.  Todd Wasserman at BrandWeek is no exception.  His article “Is Twitter the Next Second Life” discusses Twitter’s influence in social media and compares its diminishing popularity with the decline of Second Life.

According to Wasserman’s article, in mid-2009 Twitter’s growth slowed from 7.8 million new users joining each month to 6.2 million.  He describes Twitter as a “wasteland” for brands as some companies are beginning to realize that a Twitter strategy “is not particularly relevant to what they are doing on the branding and advertising side.”

Even worse, I just read through a recent survey report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project focusing on internet and social media usage by teens and young adults that said teens are not using Twitter in large numbers anymore.  Only 8% of internet users aged 12-17 use Twitter, making it as common among teens as visiting a virtual world.  Ouch.  Tough luck Twitter.  Looks like your 15 minutes of marketing fame might be up.

But maybe not.  Chris wrote about this very issue back in June 2009 and suggested that while Twitter is definitely suffused with hype, its hype is sustainable.  He praised Twitter for being light, cheap, and open while criticizing Second Life for being heavy, expensive and ephemeral.  Twitter’s sustainability comes from allowing people to access the medium in ways that work for them (e.g. desktop applications, mobile access) and for being committed to the community and meeting their wants and needs. [click to continue…]

{ 1 comment }

Propaganda, PR, Business, Edward Bernays, And Us

by Phillip Rhoades on February 9, 2010 · 7 comments

I’ve been reading through Edward Bernays‘ 1928 book “Propaganda” and I’ve really been enjoying it. Now, the word “propaganda” has been given a bad reputation, but really it’s what PR, marketing, politics, and the world is all about. As old Edward says, “The mechanism by which ideas are disseminated on a large scale is propaganda, in the broad sense of an organized effort to spread a particular belief or doctrine.” Of course when you’re trying to promote a person,. product, company, or brand you’re working in propaganda.

Bernays would have been right at home in the digital era, working to influence the top bloggers. Even in 1928 he pointed out, “If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.”

The business world may have forgotten it for a while, but what Bernays wrote so long ago still rings true, “Business realizes that its relationship to the public is not confined to the manufacture and sale of a given product, but includes at the same time the selling of itself and of all those things for which it stands in the public mind.” A company or brand has to sell itself to the public before it can hope to sell its product.

It seems that Bernays would have loved the social media revolution that the business world is taking part in. As he said, “Business must express itself and its entire corporate existence so that the public will understand and accept it.” What better way for a business to do that than to reach out in the most direct and social ways possible.

The father of modern PR is still kicking around and still completely relevant.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

{ 7 comments }