Category

Social Media

Jul 15
Love0

WTF? Friday: WTF is Google+ (and Why Should I Care?)

By Social Media

 

It’s like this: Facebook has owned the social networking space. Google can’t stand to have anyone eat even a bit of their lunch. Google’s been trying to develop a product to compete with Facebook for years. There was the Buzz attempt and the Wave attempt, both failures.

Now, we have Google+ and +1, Google’s answer to a social network and the “like” button, respectively. It’s a worthy competitor to Facebook, I think and has been adopted so quickly by millions that only apathy or difficulty managing the tool will keep it from being a success. My husband, not a social guy, said it was, for him, the opportunity to fix all the mistakes he made accepting “friends” on Facebook.

Google+ is a Facebook Mulligan.

So what IS Google+, and do we care?

Pros:

  • It’s easier to create circles in Google+ than creating and managing lists in Facebook has EVER been.
  • The interface is really clean and so far, uncluttered.
  • There’s no Farmville. Yet.
  • There’s no need to export and upload contacts; Google already knows more about you than you do.
  • It’s simpler to manage both a personal and professional presence online, and easier to figure out that you’re sharing party pics with friends

Cons:

  • It’s another social network to manage and as yet, there are not tools to integrate Google+ into existing platforms (that’ll change).
  • Some people may be lulled into false senses of security, trusting Google more than Facebook, since Facebook has a history of jeopardizing and bastardizing collected information. Guess what? Google has, too, but for some reason we’ve been largely OK with that.

Personally, I’m not yet jazzed about Google+. I feel overwhelmed by the number of people I need to sort into circles, and the need to post content in another location. I may get over that, soon once Google+ proves some value to me. It’s early yet.

I did use it to share a link to a workshop I gave recently and asked a group of business contacts to help me “sell” it — that worked nicely and it was helpful to see the flow of conversation that happened in association with the request.

Some good posts from around the interwebz on Google+:

I’m interested in YOUR Google+ successes, likes and dislikes, so fire away!

XKCD Google Plus

Jul 14
Love2

Netflix: Will you Take Your Popcorn and Go Somewhere Else?

By Media, Social Media

I am not surprised at all about the Netflix announcement that they’ll be raising rates and separating DVD rental from streaming fees.

Come on: how many have you said or thought, for real? We’re paying one price and we can stream all we want AND have DVDs delivered to our house?

I love Netflix and have been a devoted subscriber for more than seven years. I’ve bought the service for parents, grandparents and my sister’s family. I’ve streamed movies on my iPad and watched whole seasons of premium channel TV shows (I love The Wire) on DVD.

The news, though, has seriously pissed off fans, leading to assumptions that Netflix is about to lose its hold on our hearts and our entertainment dollars. The company announced the changes via blog post generating (as of this writing) more than 11,000 comments, most negative, about the additional costs. Most people complain about the lack of selection for streaming movies, vs. what’s available on DVD. It’s a tough choice to make, but at an additional, at least $6 per month per household, one that most people will consider.

The announcement and backlash has spawned dozens of blogger recommendations for alternatives to Netflix for those taking their money and moving on.

I feel a lot of loyalty to the service and will approach the change this way; we’re planning to cut back to one DVD out at a time, and keeping the unlimited streaming. My hope is that the streaming library will improve — and fast — even if its in response to the droves moving away from Netflix.

As far as the way Netflix chose to share the information, I think time will tell whether the jump all the way into the pool approach was helpful or harmful. They could have soft pedaled it, floating the idea that they might be looking at rate changes, or done it incrementally, over time. But instead, they went ahead with the full announcement, left themselves open to feedback, comments and even hatred on their blog and on Facebook. This was brave and admirable. Now, what will they DO with that feedback? Will they back down? Change direction? Stick to their guns? Time will tell.

The changes go into effect September 1, 2011.

What do you think about the way the information was released? Are you a Netflix user? Will you switch to something else, or change the way you subscribe, based on these changes, or do you still think Netflix is the greatest thing since film was invented?

 

Jul 14
Love0

7 Reasons Business Blogs Fail

By Social Media

Everyone has stumbled upon the business blog that seems to have died on the vine. 

There’s this one, last updated in September, 2010.

Or this one, with a couple of posts in May, 2011, in March before that . . .

Blogs are tough to keep up, and we know that 95 percent of them are abandoned (that includes all blogs, not just the business category). But the reasons for blogging are still pretty compelling; there’s evidence that a business that blogs gets 55 percent more traffic to its website than a business that doesn’t blog.

Here are seven reasons I think business blogs fizzle and fade:

  1. There’s no real accountability for the people in charge of producing the content. It may be “part of one’s job” but it’s not formally in a job description, is not rewarded for success with compensation or other meaningful recognition, and/or isn’t part of that person’s evaluation.
  2. The responsibility for blogging or engaging in social media on behalf of the company is added on to someone’s already full plate, with no guidance as to how to fit the new activities into existing hours.
  3. The wrong person is in the driver’s seat: for instance, it doesn’t need to be the company president or marketing director doing all the blogging. In fact, it only needs to be the person who is most passionate about consistently contributing quality content.
  4. One person tries to do too much themselves and gets burned out.
  5. The effort is wholly focused on text-heavy posts; essays are hard to churn out a few times a week, minimum. (Mixing up content with photos, video, audio, etc. can help keep a blog alive and lively.)
  6. The blog does not exist to help create a community — it is publishing into the ether, rather than inviting people in to join the conversation.
  7. The person who is most passionate about the blog leaves the company.

If your business is blogging, what are you proactively doing to keep the blog alive and thriving?

 

Jul 13
Love0

MJ is Here: Ready to Answer Your Questions about Social Media, PR and Communications

By Public Relations, Social Media

It’s so hot I think my brain is boiling. So today I’m going to leave this post to you, the people sitting in air-conditioned offices, complaining about how cold it is.

What would you like to know about social media, communications or public relations that, perhaps, you’ve always wanted to know, but been too afraid to ask.

* photo courtesy of Kelsey Sparkle Rakes

Jul 11
Love0

Morgan Stanley Advisers to Start Using Twitter, LinkedIn: Fair Warning

By Public Relations, Social Media

In May, financial industry giant Morgan Stanley decided to allow its brokers to begin using social media in the course of their jobs. Since the use of social media tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and even Facebook have become mainstream methods of doing business for most industries, the financial industry has, somewhat understandably, been dragging its feet.

According to Reuters, and based on a memo released from the company:

Next month, a test group of 600 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney advisers will be allowed almost full use of LinkedIn, the professional networking site, and restricted use of Twitter, the micro-blogging service, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

Within six months, the program will be expanded to the firm’s entire force of 17,800 advisers.

“The emergence of social media has changed the way in which people communicate with each other and companies interact with clients,” Morgan Stanley Smith Barney U.S. wealth management boss Andy Saperstein said in the memo. . .

Morgan Stanley is not allowing full use of social media. The freewheeling nature of social networks — letting users link to other websites, spread messages and images — has made them wildly popular but a source of anxiety for brokerage compliance officials.

The company will use social web monitoring software to keep tabs on and collect all activity, but look for brokers to make mistakes as they navigate unfamiliar waters.

I’m terribly curious about what “restricted use of Twitter” and “almost full use” of LinkedIn means, exactly.

I’m also terribly curious about what kind of training the 17,800 advisers are completing between now and November. Former financial advisers from other companies have shared with me the “social media guidelines” handed down from their corporate offices. To sidestep proper use of social platforms, the companies have given advice to the advisers that goes against the grain of the entire Internet culture. In short, cold calling, based on scraped contact information and relationships gleaned from prospects’ social networks. Mark my words and put a note on your calendar for November 2011; expect to be contacted by someone you don’t know via a social network, reaching out to help you with your financial needs.

Every Morgan Stanley adviser should know this: don’t engage if you’re not 100 percent sure you understand the culture of social media and where the culture and the rules of your company (and compliance standards) intersect.

Hey Morgan Stanley — if you’re listening, and I hope you are, I’d really like to know how you’re helping your advisers adjust to the new culture. And while you’re waiting for that flip to be switched in November, take a look at some of my recommendations of how your industry can be using social platforms right now, and in the future.