Mike’s Social Media Blog

The US Army Is Up Keeping Up With Social Media

by Mike Vallez on November 2, 2009

The US army with approximately 1,050,000 active duty soldiers is keeping up with social media when a lot of others are still trying to figure out what a Tweet is. The Army’s brand for their social media efforts is appropriately called Army Live. Social media/new media’s use is only limited by one’s closed mind. In this case the folks at the US Army are paying attention to the communication change that is occurring through web 2.0 and they are responding.

The US Army has no less than 18 blogs on their blog roll and they are all related to the US Army. The blogs range from specific units, the reserves, Army medical (Tricare), Army ROTC, Army Corps of engineers, etc. I will guarantee you by this time next year they will have twice as many blogs or more. But the US Army is not only blogging they are active on no less than at least 8 major social media websites to include Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to name a few. The way the US Army is leveraging social media is very customer service based. They are reaching their members through social media because that is where a lot of their members are spending time.

The use of social media by the US Army is very smart on their part. They realize by offering social media as a communication tool (not the end all be all) that they are empowering their members. How are they empowering their members? By allowing them to blog and express their feelings, their worries, their questions in an open forum. A forum where others in the US Army may also have the same issues and can commiserate with or provide advice to the blogger. The US Army has developed specific rules and procedures for the blogging process, which clearly defines right and wrong behavior while participating in Army Live. One of the biggest takeaways the US Army’s social media efforts is increased morale by their members and as the credit card commercial goes, “that is priceless.” Some takeaways by US Army personnel: a feeling that someone is listening to them (better communication), they are better informed on pertinent army issues, and they are able to keep up with their families through a single expansive US Army social media network.

The US Army is a progressive government agency, especially since their main function is protection of the United States. One would think, the US Army may not want to have a very public image displayed through social media. I think they are being realistic, but cautious. Social media/new media communication is a cultural change, which frankly not even the US Army can stop. Since they cannot stop it they are using social media as a tool to help their communication efforts. I applaud the US Army for their social media implementation and I look forward to watching how they use social media in the future.

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Why Honesty Is Coming Back Via Social Media

by Mike Vallez on October 26, 2009

So to prep for this blog post I decided to post a question on two of my Twitter accounts CrazyMikesapps asking “what is honesty.” I got only one question, but no answers. Is that surprising? Does honesty mean different things to different people? Probably. So not to get too morally righteous, but honesty to me is telling the truth. The truth would be reality, what really happened as opposed to what did not happen or made up excuses.

As I spend more time blogging, Tweeting, posting Facebook updates, I readily see that people do not want to communicate with someone who appears to be fake, dishonest, or a narcissist. One of the fundamental characteristics of social media is transparency, which one could equate to honesty. People want to share their life experiences, but they don’t want to share them with a 54 year old pervert who has a Facebook picture of a twenty year old girl and communicates as such. That is just plain creepy. So ask that person you are communicating with through social media some basic questions. Like what they like to do, what they like to eat, what year were they were born, etc, and do this quickly. If they provided weird answers, or they provide unreasonable delays in answering then maybe you should consider who you are communicating with. Consider they are not who they say they are.

When it comes to social media one who is dishonest can only hide for so long. Bloggers call it the way they see it and if a blogger provides wrong or discrepant information the pack tends to right itself. People unfollow, weirdos, or those who have proven to be untrusted. That is what I love about social media and the honesty that comes from this forum. Not to get political, but from Bill Clinton to George Bush there is this belief that lying is acceptable in a sense by people on both sides of the political spectrum, which is nonsense. Lying is never acceptable and I don’t try to foster some “greater than though” moral righteousness. I have lied and probably will lie again, but that is not the point. The point is a true sense of honesty is alive and kicking in social media websites where millions of people are having conversations.

Who would have thought that “social media” websites would be the catharsis for honesty, not me. Not to be naive, I realize there is plenty of dishonesty on the web, but if you pay attention you can ferret out the dishonest, but you must pay attention. People want honesty. They want truth, they want to feel like they are actually being told something that is not a fairy tale. Take 5 minutes and look at Mashable the social media website for case studies in social media success by corporations. The corporations that are winning at social media are those that are engaging their consumers with a funny little thing called “honesty.”

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Why Customer Service Reigns In Social Media

by Mike Vallez on October 24, 2009

When I started this blog, Mike’s Social Media Blog I wanted one of my first post’s to be on customer service. Well this blog has been a little neglected due to simply being to damn busy. Yes, no excuse, but putting food on the table, being a good employee to my company Altegrity, and fitting in my family (notice they are last) has been to say the least a balancing act. So I have decided to blast my customer service post out today.

Do any of you see it a little ironic that social media is reviving a sense of customer service? The companies/people who are engaging their consumers in social media and actually listening to them are bringing back a sense of customer service. If you have attended college you have heard a rant or two that the Untied States is fast becoming a “service industry” country. But, go to your local Walmart, doctor, government agency and you would all but think customer service is in the crapper. Here are a couple of real life examples of horrible customer service, which I am sure none of you have experienced (sarcasm).

Example#1-The Surgeon-My wife Lisa was having some problems with her hand and it led us to an orthopedic surgeon. Post MRI, x-ray, initial exam we were at our last appointment before surgery. My wife had an issue with one of the front office personnel at this visit before seeing the surgeon. The issue, we showed up early for our appointment and we continuously had others go before us who arrived after us. Typically not a big deal, but after 45 minutes after her scheduled appointment we began to become annoyed. My wife spoke out to a rather cranky front office person, but within 5 minutes we were in a room, problem solved right, wrong. Apparently, the surgeon was informed we were insurrectionists and he had an attitude upon entering our room, 20 minutes later. He treated my wife like an idiot, her questions were dumb and his answers were evasive. Point blank, we asked him a question about the surgery and his answer, “the pain has nothing to do with the surgery.” The why have the surgery? My wife and I left extremely dismayed that the surgeon was so uninformative and cold during this vist. Neither myself or my wife complained once during this visit.

Now, I like you would think, yes my wife or I caused this problem in the first place. Bull crap! A professional, especially a surgeon who takes an oath to treat his patients with sincerity should be able to overcome agitation (if you can call it that) and keep a good bedside manner. Remember, no matter how you slice it the customer is always right.

Example#2-Government agnecies-There seems to be an almost “carte blanche” attitude that because someone works at a service position in a government agency that they can treat you like crap. For 7 years I conducted federal background investigations and had to obtain police records from law enforcement records sections at numerous agencies. Seemed like no matter what day it was, the majority of the time (80%) most of the folks on the front end of these sections were difficult to communicate with and were resistant to doing their job. Bottom line, they appeared to have a high level of disgust for their jobs, at least from my perception. End result, they dish it back to you and I the consumer, a hard time when we go in for service.

I am not trying to be overly sensitive and, yes, I realize people have off days, bad days, yes I get it. But, I was a waiter during college and while in the police academy. My revenue during this time depended primarily on my tips. I did not receive good tips if I provided terrible service. Maybe the people in the above scenarios would provide better service if they truly received compensation from each service experience they provided.

The reality is people are tired of the bull crap and shotty service they get. They are tired of being treated like mushrooms and kept in the dark. They are tired of having products designed and produced with little to no input, then having those products shoved down their throat (car industry). People have had enough and I don’t blame them. If I am going to spend my money with a business that provides great customer service. So why do some in social media get it when it comes to “customer service?”

The basis of social media is to listen, engage, and to provide others with something of value. The irony is the web is the last place you think this positive “customer service” movement would have started. Bloggers to their credit have pushed this issue by blogging about everything. Social media customer service has blossomed from this movement. Yes, movement! There is a cultural change at foot and the change is a sense of inclusion into business models, inclusion of you and I the lowly consumer, end user, people with the money. This movement also includes law enforcement.

Law enforcement agencies like the Boca Raton PD and the Lakeland PD get it. They realize they can offer better law enforcement protection by getting their citizens involved through social media, because that is where a lot of their citizens are getting information. Instead of waiting to see if social media will last more than a couple more years these agencies are aggressively attempting to add this piece of the communication puzzle to their existing communication plans. By doing this they are providing their citizens better customer service. They are offering more, becoming more transparent, listening to their constituents, etc. These law enforcement agencies are providing a level of customer service not often seen in law enforcement (wow what a breath of fresh air).

My customer service goal is to be able to provide my wife, boss, kids, friends, acquaintances, and anyone I have contact with a great experience when dealing with them. Making them feel special, included, and important. People want that extra touch service that makes them feel special.

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The Many Different Faces Of Twitter

by Mike Vallez on October 4, 2009

Twitter was founded in 2006, but it was not until this year that it has reaped what was sowed the last three years. When I talk with people (who are not in social media) they often ask 1) what is Twitter and or 2) they are on Twitter, but aren’t sure how to participate in it, where “it” is “the conversation.” So I make an attempt to try to explain Twitter and I quickly get that glassy eye stare, like I get when I day dream. So I have decided to start making some Twitter tutorials to help the “Twitter Ignorant” understand “Twitter”, “Twitter Etiquette” and “Twitter Protocal.” This is the first in a series of blog posts on Twitter.

I currently have 3 Twitter accounts myself, manage 3 Twitter accounts for work, and through consulting I manage 1 more Twitter account. On a daily basis I am inside each of these 7 accounts, most more than once. Additionally, I manage two websites by myself and work a full-time job. So why do I tell you all of this? First, I understand Twitter and I will tell you there is more than one “Twitter Persona” one can have and I do. First let’s answer the question, what is Twitter?

Twitter is a what is called a “microblog” where you can update your status (this is the message box labeled “What are you doing” at the top of the Twitter home page) by typing a message that consists of only 140 characters. Due to the size of your status update called a “Tweet” this limits your ability to communicate your thoughts. But not to worry, there are tools like URL shorteners that can increase your communication by tacking on a web link in as few as 6 or 7 characters. Why do I want to update my status (tell others “what I am doing?” Many people are on Twitter for many different reasons and here are some of the most common.

Personal microblog: Called a microblog due to the size of your “Tweets” you can still inform, comment, share your opinion, shout out, rant, etc through the little box labeled “What are you doing.” You can think of this as your personal blog if you don’t have one and are new to blogging (much smaller scale in terms of blogs). Your “Tweets” are kept in a feed that you can always access by clicking on your own profile picture. This helps you keep track of what you have posted.

Communication tool: There are millions of different people on Twitter who are famous, ordinary, men, tweens, and from all over the world. Some of the most interesting conversations I have had on Twitter were with people from other countries. This is a great tool to carry on a conversation on anything you fancy with a total stranger. But, they don’t seem that strange after your conversation is over and in the end you will be looking for that person again to have another conversation. A very nice tool when you want to communicate privately with someone on Twitter is the “direct message” or DM. This allows you and another to communicate privately and you can access what you have sent and what you have received through the DM tabs. Public relations is also another key area that businesses are targeting Twitter for. Communication on Twitter can work both positively and negatively in regards to businesses (depending on the issue).

Marketing tool: An inherent use of Twitter is as a promotional tool for your personal blog, website, business, cause, organization, family, whatever you can think of by way of the live web link in the profile section that others can see (and you) when you click on your profile picture. The power of this live web link should not be underestimated. I used Twitter to establish by blog CrazyMikesapps by adding this web link to my profile and information about my web site as well to help explain why and what they link was they were clicking. By far this is probably the most common use of Twitter today. In the early stages of Twitter history it was cool to update your status to your followers. But now, unless you are Ashton Kucher you look like a dweeb when you do this. Instead once you start to get a healthy following say a couple of thousand (not too impressive) but none the less if you look at it from the stand point that 2000 people could potentially hear what you have to say (FREE advertising). That is the true power of social media as a marketing tool.

These are but a few of the reasons people are on and use Twitter. I am sure there are plenty of other reasons, but it all comes down to one common denominator, communicating with other people. No matter how you slice it that is why everyone is on Twitter. To get there message out, for attention, to be heard, to feel connected, to feel important, etc. As a human being most of us want and need daily interaction with others in some shape or form. Twitter helps to provide a new age communication tool that does much more than the mundane.

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Facebook Login Leads Police To Burglary Suspect….

by Mike Vallez on September 21, 2009

The Journal-news.net reports how a rather unaccomplished burglar ends up getting caught by his Facebook login, yep, you heard me right. Here is a recreation of the crime: 1) break window of victims house 2) ransack house, take valuables 3) Login into Facebook to check wall status (duh) 4) Quickly leave with valuables and avoid getting caught. So if we were playing a game like “which part of the burglary process does not fit” I think we would all choose number three above.

But, believe it or not Jonathan G. Parker, 19, of Fort Loudoun, Pa., did login into his Facebook account to check out, who knows what for, but I guess the obvious to check his “wall” status. Do you see how social media is changing things in law enforcement. I am not sure, but this has to be one of the first arrests due to Facebook login evidence. How does this hold up in a court of law? Are there any “expert Facebook witnesses” in the yellow pages or Google who can testify to “Facebook rules of login?” Point is the criminal justice system, particularly the prosecutors and defense attorney’s have a possible historical social media case law issue on the horizon. Can it be proven that the suspect actually logged into his account? If there is no physical evidence and this is the only piece of evidence what an interesting outcome may be forthcoming.

My wheels start working when I think of the opportunities that are out there for software to be developed that can be integrated with Facebook and other social media sites to protect it’s users. In this case maybe Facebook could force the users to provide some type of unique user information when logging into a new computer to authenticate that computer? This may be considered intrusive, but what if the victim had been murdered! Yea, I could “what if” this to death, but don’t think this can’t happen. What about the Craig’s List Killer? Bet nobody thought that someone would find prey on Craig’s List as a serial killer. Will social media sites move towards user authentication of some sort, I think so. But, it will probably be some brilliant developer and a marketing guru that provide the solution.

The suspect did not meet the victim on Facebook according to the article, but this still present a reason for the “authentication login” I propose above. The “authentication login” would also be very useful for anyone in any social media community who wants some protection from unknowns. Force the spammers, bots, freaks, fakes, and so on to become authenticated and force transparency. This may be considered a little drastic, but many females are harassed online due to their profiles alone. Social media protections for users will increase, but don’t lose any sleep waiting for them to do so.

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