Twitter

How To #Fail At Twitter In 4 Easy Steps

by Mike Vallez on August 7, 2010

Update: 08/09/10 - The failure mentioned in this post was from a personal Twitter persona standpoint. This article chronicles how I lost my way Tweeting on my personal Twitter account with friends, associates, and people I meet on a daily basis. From a corporate perspective I see Twitter activity based on scalability and mission. Additionally, the intent of this blog post is to have a follow-up post that chronicles how I successfully regained my positive Twitter persona in 4 Easy Steps, look for this in a day or two. MV

Prior to 02/2009 I never participated in any social networking sites. Then a friend introduced me to WordPress blogging and Twitter. The result was an injection of social networking into my life that I had never experienced before. I became an active Twitter persona Tweeting daily and meeting new people regularly. There was a satisfaction of connecting with people all over the world with like thoughts and sometimes argumentative thoughts. All the same I was having conversations daily with cool people all who I met on Twitter. Then something happened that one would expect would increase a social networkers presence on Twitter.

July of 2009 I was transitioned into a full-time position as “Social Media Strategist.” Initially, I found myself Tweeting as I had prior to assuming this title, but slowly over a period of 6 or 7 months I fell off the Twitter grid. My failure was not due to lack of social networking enjoyment, it was due to scalability. During this time I had created 2 more personal Twitter accounts and 4 corporate Twitter accounts. As most of you know, trying to keep conversations going on 7 different Twitter accounts is impossible, even using TweetDeck, Seesmic, HootSuite, etc.

Here is how I failed in 4 easy steps:

1) Lost my purpose - The purpose of social media/social networking is to build community and community comes first. The minute you take your eye of this purpose in the social realm you may as well close your Twitter account. I took my eye off community in exchange for a larger community. Due to scalability I #Failed at building community and I lost my purpose on Twitter.

2) Too Many Twitter Accounts – The time it takes to cultivate and nurture conversations on a Twitter profile is significant. To continue an authentic conversation requires time and when I became responsible for 7 Twitter accounts I became overwhelmed. Granted 4 were outward facing communication channels, but nonetheless this contributed to my Twitter #Fail.

3) Went On Auto Pilot – Using HootSuite or another Twitter client to schedule Tweets is great, but once I traveled down this path it led me to lessen my non-automated Twitter activity. I let my accounts become robotic and people don’t respond to this type of social networking interaction. Even if your a Twitter celebrity, people are quickly able to discern the difference between an auto tweet and a real tweet. People want authentic conversations and by going automatic I #Failed.

4) Lost Interest – I know what your thinking, you #Failed on Twitter because you just got bored with it? No, I lost interest due to the 3 reasons above. My Twitter conversations dwindled and people lost interest in me plain and simple. I took myself out of the conversations and found myself a little lost trying to get back into the conversation.

People are smart and those on Twitter want to be engaged with other’s or they would not be there. Once you lose purpose, try to manage too many Twitter accounts, go on auto pilot you will loose interest in your Twitter activities. The simple reason is we as people can only focus on so many things and doing the above causes things to go out of focus. I encourage you to avoid the 4 steps I list above and keep your Twitter interest alive and well. MV

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What is Privacy? 5 Common Sense Tips While Social Networking….

by Mike Vallez on June 4, 2010

What exactly is considered private when it comes to social media and social networking? Since becoming involved in social media about a year and a half ago I have been a little astonished at what people share about themselves. MySpace has been the social networking website where both men and woman pushed the limits on how much skin is showed in uploaded pic’s. Seems like Facebook has surpassed MySpace with lack of clothing pic’s due to the shear number of users 465,564,340 (via http://www.checkfacebook.com/) and the numerous men and women in their undies, bikinis, or less.

I am not a prude and am not against girl’s in bikinis (not into guys in underwear), but there seems to be a lack of modesty and forethought when it comes to information (pics, videos, crazy status updates) being placed on social networking sites. Once information is placed on the web, you should assume it will live on the web forever, yes forever. People can save any images or text with a simple right click of a mouse and don’t assume because your privacy settings are set on Facebook or other social networking sites that any of your risque information won’t show up on the web (so called friends can share your information).

Another security/privacy issue to be considered while participating in social media/social networking is GPS location services. Foursquare, Twitter, Facebook, and most other social networking sites allow you to provide your GPS location. As a retired police officer I do not think this is the best of ideas for personal security reasons. There are websites like pleaserobme.com that are placing your GPS locations on their website once caught off the web from status updates along with the fact that you are not home encouraging criminal activity or at your residence i.e: burglary because you are most likely not at home.

Below are 5 common sense tips on how to prevent from unwanted privacy intrusions:

1) Don’t share naked pictures of yourself unless you are ready for the consequences – Hmm, what will my parents or kids think?
2) Don’t put anything into a status update you don’t want recirculated on the web – My boss John Doe is a #$%^.
3) Ladies turn off your GPS notifications from all social networking sites so you are not advertising that you are alone at a bar at 2am – There are creepers on the web you know.
4) Don’t always trust a picture of an individual on a social networking site because they are attractive – Things are not always as they appear.
5) Don’t list your cell phone number on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social networking website if you don’t want your privacy invaded – Ladies really, weirdos will call you.

As social media continues to change our culture our definition of privacy seems to also be changing. What was private 5 years ago is now a profile picture on Facebook or a status update on Twitter that potentially millions of people can see. I am not throwing rocks from my glass house as I have violated my own common sense rules a time or two, but consider your privacy current or future when participating in social media and social networking sites. Mike Vallez

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Department of Defense social media policy change on social media Five-O

DoD Takes On Social Media | Gets All Branches Under One Policy

by Mike Vallez on March 5, 2010

The Department of Defense has implemented an encompassing “Responsible and Effective Use
of Internet-based Capabilities Policy” last week to get everyone under their large umbrella on the same “social networking” use page (http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Web-Services-Web-20-and-SOA/Pentagon-Loosens-Reins-Over-Use-of-Facebook-Twitter-Web-20-Apps-448094/). As one could imagine the DoD was going to have to do something sooner than later to get the different organizations under their jurisdiction under the same policy.

The trouble began last year when the US Army banned the use of several “social networking” sites for their organization. The US Marines followed up with a much harsher version as I wrote about in August of last year “Marines Ban Social Media, But Can They.” The Marines banned the use of all “social networking” sites from all US Marine network computers.

The DoD is the protector of the United States of America and the job involves at most times a high level of secrecy and security around operations, procedures, and intelligence. Naturally, the banning of “social media” by the various organizations in the DoD was as a precautionary measure to protect national security, i.e. the United States. But, apparently after some study and consideration the DoD feels comfortable enough to allow use of “social networking” sites by their massive employee base.

Could the DoD successfully, have banned social media? Perhaps, but policing this would be a very difficult process, one that might take up an inordinate amount of time and take away from the more important mission of protecting the this country. The policy allows for use of “social networking” sites, wiki’s, etc, but there is some wording that allows the DoD to put the “kabash” on” social networking” if necessary. The cause for revoking “social networking” access is mostly common sense based on abuse or “bandwidth” issues.

I applaud the DoD for stepping up and taking the “social media” bull by the horns. An organization this large, especially one that deals in national security may have just set the standard for “social networking” use for the rest of the government and private sector. It ought to be interesting to see how other agencies, corporations, and other government entities deal with the same issue, people using “social networking sites” at work. MFV

http://michaelvallez.com

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ToysRUs Great Customer Service | Social Media Squander

by Mike Vallez on January 29, 2010

During the Christmas shopping season my wife and I had a tremendous customer service experience at ToysRUs in Wesley Chapel, Florida. No offense ToysRUs staff reading this, but we ended up at this stores electronics department after coming up short at Best Buy. We had intended on going to ToysRUs to grab some board games, but never really thought of purchasing any electronics at this store.

After grabbing the board games we needed we headed over to the checkout line, until my wife mentioned something about checking out there electronics. I almost brushed this off, but anytime I can check out electronics anywhere I am game. The breadth of electronics selection obviously is not up to par with Best Buy or hhgregg. But the electronics they do sell are reasonably priced. They had a small selection of digital cameras, a nicer selection of iPod compatible radios (better than Best Buy), and a respectable selection of iPod’s. As we wandered around the counters we almost left, but Trevor a customer service fellow asked if we needed help. That little outward offer by this guy to a couple that had no intention on spending any cash on electronics at ToysRUs was the beginning of a great shopping experience.

Trevor was very knowledgeable of the cameras and he helped us get a 12.1 mega pixel camera for our daughter at a magnificent price, less than $100.00. We were unable to match this at Best Buy (sorry, not trying to pick on Best Buy, just saying). Trevor continued to ask if we needed anything else and we were in the market for an iPod Touch. Really, I had no hope of purchasing an iPod Touch at ToysRUs due to the Apple price controls. But, low and behold ToysRUs offered us a discount, not on the iPod Touch, but off the total price of our purchase and the discount was a ToysRUs gift card. That cemented the deal. Another customer service woman (forgot her name, sorry) helped us find a wonderful iPod Touch radio that also was on sale and she was personally knowledgeable of. My wife and I walked out of ToysRUs spending almost $400 with an iPod Touch, a nice digital camera, and an iPod Touch alarm clock radio, with a $25 gift card as well.

My first thought as a social media nut is to tell the world. As you can see I am a little late at that, but non the less I am telling the story. I did however, reach out to ToysRUs through corporate through an email, but got no response. I then scoured their website for any signs of social media (Facebook, Twitter, you know), but found nothing. A check of Alexa.com for ToysRUs shows their website to be the 310th most popular website in the United States, yet no signs of social media efforts. But hold on, ToysRUs does have a robust Facebook Fan Page with almost half a million fans. Weird that the ToysRUs company website does not have the Facebook icon or any mention of Facebook on their website or in any of the commercials I have seen for this toy store giant.

ToysRUs appears to be a company that gets it! When I mean gets it, they have customer service representatives that go out of their way to help customers, which in this day and age is hard to find. But, the squandered opportunity comes from not advertising their social media involvement, i.e. their Facebook Fan Page. Maybe they would have 1.5 million fans instead and increased revenue. A check of Alexa.com a website rating company showed the ToysRUs website to be the 310th most popular website in the United States, which means this is an extremely busy website, again no signs of social media. By not advertising their social media involvement they are probably missing out on thousands if not hundreds of thousands of customer loyalty followers.

My suggestion for ToysRUs is to clearly identify they are on Facebook and consider providing customer service on Twitter. They have a large customer base in stay at home mothers, work mothers, and stay at home fathers who probably spend hours a day on the web. By meeting their customers on Facebook and Twitter they have a huge opportunity to increase their brand and customer loyalty. I am a fan of ToysRUs and will continue to look for electronics at this store before heading to Best Buy, at least at times. CM

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Phishing, Don’t Become A Victim!

by Mike Vallez on November 24, 2009

About two months ago I was minding my own business blogging when I received an email from PayPal, or at least I thought it was from PayPal. The email looked completely authentic down to the crappy little copyright information at the bottom of the email. The email was what appeared to be an official communication from PayPal that my account had been charged over $400.00. My heart was racing because I did not pay anyone $400. I immediately called PayPal, to plead my case and they told me nothing was wrong, no charges had been made to my account and not to worry about this. They told me to email this to my internet hosting company. Kind of silly since the email looked official and from PayPal. Someone attempted to get information from me by “Phishing” or “spoofing.”

But what in the world do these terms mean, they sound more like words from a children’s book or game. Phishing is when someone tries to get critical information from you through a bogus pop-up or fraudulent email. They will indicate in either form of communication that you need to provide your account information, pin code, etc or some dire consequences will occur. Spoofing, similarly is when someone sets up a false website to mimic an official website or a false email with the same intent. Again, in spoofing the goal is to get the victim to provide critical account information or personal information to be used to commit financial crimes against the victim.

I am on Twitter everyday, throughout the day and I am sad to say, but I do not usually use my “Direct Message” function anymore due to the incessant phishing attempts. Typically, there is a very short teaser “Direct Message” that will try to lure you into their trap. I just don’t even respond to DM’s anymore because of this. Just today I saw a message from a woman who had her Twitter account hacked through a successful “Phishing” attempt through her DM. In this case the scumbags only hacked into her account and caused an inconvenience for the victim. But, mark my words the people trying to get your information through “Phishing” and “Spoofing” are trying to get data for identity theft, credit card fraud, etc. They are relentless and they will not give up, so if you feel the hair on your neck go up when you are about to click a link in an email, then don’t delete the email. If the email is that important you will get a phone call from your bank, credit card company, etc to get the correct information.

Here are some tips to avoid becoming a victim of “Phishing” and “Spoofing”, take caution and be careful. Over the next few years there will most likely be a huge spike in traditional known fraud such as these methods as well as new out of the box fraud ideas. Why? Because there are more and more people joining social networks and providing email addresses and personal information. Unfortunately criminals are opportunistic and this gives them information to work with in their criminal endeavors.

By the way, I have since received about 6 false PayPal emails each instructs me to do the same thing, provide them with key account information. The most important thing to remember about this article is no bank, credit card company, etc will ask you to provide critical information such as passwords or pin numbers, bottom line. Be vigilant, be careful.

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The Police Blog 2.0 Podcast | 5 Reasons Police Should Be Using Twitter

by Mike Vallez on November 23, 2009

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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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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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What Does Transparency In Social Media Really Mean?

by Mike Vallez on September 24, 2009

As I navigate through the many different social media websites, blogs, microblogs and beyond the continued mantra of “transparency” is apparent. As a blogger and someone who consumes the internet approximately 12 hours a day I understand why it is so important to be “transparent” when interacting with others on the web. But, what does “transparency” really mean in social media?

Some would say “transparency” is the half naked picture of a woman or man’s Facebook profile picture along with enough details in that profile for the average serial killer to locate that person. I would say that scenario is a little to “transparent.” Some would say “transparency” is being honest when dealing with others on the web, this I would agree with. The sarcasm in the first example is heavy, but in reality there are plenty of individuals who are way too “transparent” on the web. But, again I ask you are there different meanings of “transparency” on the web?

Personally, I believe there are different degrees of “transparency” in social media. A blogger has to be ‘transparent” in his or her posts to gain trust with the reader. Anonymous bloggers on the other hand are the antithesis of “transparency” and frankly are more like bomb throwers than anything else. Corporations, businesses and anyone trying to convince others to buy their product on the web should either be “transparent” or get ready to become “transparent” by fending off accusations of “non-transparency”, which frankly can undermine their brand. Can the police or federal law enforcement dare to be “transparent?” Yes, they can and have to be to gain credibility with others on the web and in social media.

“Transparency” by police is no different than the average Joe or Jane, except in cases where “transparency” would undermine an ongoing investigation. Police have a great opportunity to build trust with their citizens through blogs run by police executives, communication officers, or street patrol officers. The interaction between the police and citizens in social media opens up the opportunity for relationships to be built and for a level of trust to be formed through “transparency.” What about the “hue” and “cry” of officer safety. Well Google your name and find out how much information is out there already on the web about you. Unfortunately, if someones heart is set on doing another serious harm a private investigator, hitman, etc can find you and I. That last sentence is not meant to be dramatic, but realistic.

Being “transparent” is a must in social media. This does not mean getting naked in your Facebook or MySpace profile. Rather it means being sincere and honest in your blog posts, Tweets, Facebook threads, etc. Be yourself, be sincere, don’t curse at others, use facts and professional discussion to prove your point, and if not agree to disagree. If you get caught with your pants down, being “transparent” means stepping up to the plate and taking responsibility, not shoving it off on others. This is my view of “transparency” it may not be yours, but if you are going to have discussion on the web and you lie get ready to get righted.

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