On Monday, The New York Times reported that Forbes planned to layoff a number of its staff members on both the editorial and business sides. No shocker there. The fact that most print publications are like sinking ships in the night right now is no secret.
What I wasn’t expecting was for much of the staff who run ForbesLife and ForbesTraveler.com to also get the boot! Say what? Isn’t the digital/online media realm supposed to be experiencing rapid-fire growth right now (or did I dream that)?
I had a minor conniption when I saw that Lauren Sherman was one of those who were let go. Does this mean no more “ForbesLife Find of the Day”? I can’t deal with this torture. Forbes: I’d like to see some kind of public statement, please. Thanks.
If you’re like me, there are times you’ve followed various reporters or self-proclaimed industry “experts” on Twitter because you expect them to offer up their opinions on or inside info about their relevant areas of expertise. Much to your chagrin, weeks later you realize that said Twitterer is social-media handicapped and all you’ve learned about them is that they’re excited to see the return of Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte this fall and their girlfriend had to take their puppy to the doggy E.R. last week. The result…unfollow.
There’s a group of journalists and reputable industry personalities who just don’t get Twitter and the potential it offers for personal branding. TravelAgent Central’s Ruthanne Terrero apparently noticed the same thing and wrote a great piece last week entitled, “You May Be Messing Up Your Twitter Strategy; Here’s How to Repair It,” in which she explains that, for many, Twitter has become “a personal social network and not a professional venue through which [they] can demonstrate [their] travel expertise.”
Ruthanne highlights ten tips to remedy one’s Twitter strategy. My favorites are:
1. Post links to interesting travel articles preceded by your own provocative and insightful comments.
2. You can also share useful information, say, if you read in your local paper that an interesting festival is coming up. You don’t always have to share a link. If you can say it in 140 characters, you’re all set.
3. Share practical travel advice you collect in the course of your personal travels or daily life. This could be transfer information from an airport to a hotel in a strange city or it might be a tip on how to get around your own town.
6. Don’t engage in casual conversation in the public timeline. Your followers don’t want to see isolated comments from you that say, “LOL, I never knew that!” This is alienating, not engaging.
8. You may have created a Twitter persona that’s meant to be a bit snarky. Nothing wrong with that, as that can be quite engaging, but don’t be overly snarky. You’ll become predictable all too soon.
I won’t be mean and call out any tweeps that have neglected to adhere to these easy-to-follow rules in the past. I will only hope that they take heed and make the “tworld” a better place for you and for me.
Many of you may have already seen New York Magazine’s article entitled ”What’s Your Widget?“ in which noteworthy Big Applers like Jimmy Fallon divulge their favorite web applications. According to the author, “you can tell a lot about people by their apps.” This is true, Miss Sarah Bernard. I especially enjoyed learning that IT specialist Philip Blake has a weak bladder and Gossip Girl actor Matthew Settle is deeply insecure. Riveting.
But what about app overload? Have we as a society become so used to having our problems instantly solved, our questions immediately answered and our boredom quickly curtailed by the false notion that we are engaged in combat (see Al Roker’s favorite app), that we are losing our collective patience and ability to be resourceful and creative during those moments when technology fails? With over 85,000 iPhone apps and 2,500 Blackberry apps, could these apps eventually wear away at those humanistic qualities that were once innate, but are becoming rare? Are we suffering from collective A.D.D.? Or are all these apps just allowing us to accomplish more in any given minute than generations before us?
The latest in brand-boosting Twitter stunts is the first-ever “twéance” - an interactive séance that will be taking place on Twitter the day before Halloween (October 30).
U.K.-based Halloween costume store FancyDress.com is the force behind @tweance, which will enable Twitter users to communicate with deceased celebrities via popular British psychic medium Jayne Wallace and, perhaps, meander onto FancyDress.com to scour their assortment of Simon Cowell face masks.
Pretty spooky stuff. But I guess we can say the stunt is working, since it’s already creating quite a buzz on our side of the pond. More importantly, this little shenanigan revealed (was I the only one not in-the-know on this one?) that the social media-savvy psychics among us have been using Twitter as a fortune-telling medium long before FancyDress.com cooked up their little plan (you better be good, @earthshod!).
Which deceased celeb would you want to summon via @tweance? I’m thinking Princess Di. I want all the juicy details of her “murder” (now that she probably knows whether it was really set up or just an accident). The answer to that one should create quite the global stir!
This week, Amazon announced that it reduced the price of its Kindle 2 by $40 and launched an international version with a built-in AT&T SIM card. Barnes & Noble then leaked news of its new handheld digital reading device, scheduled to launch next spring.
In the video above, a Barnes & Noble rep explains how the company’s new e-reader will work. He notes the device’s key points of differentiation from the competition — it’s designed for lengthy reading and it’s a color device.
This is exciting for two reasons:
1. The added competition will probably (eventually) force Amazon to further reduce the price of its Kindle…affordable e-readers = yay!
2. Now I can read my entire collection of Dr. Seuss stories in one sitting without forgoing the stimulating, colorful pictures! (Kidding.)
Yesterday, PR Week and MS&L announced the results of their first annual Social Media Survey. The overarching finding wasn’t too surprising…
“Despite the perceived prevalence of the use of social media in the marketing world, there are many companies that are still cautiously entering the space.”
I think most of us in the communications industry are aware that much of corporate America still thinks “the Twitter” and “the Facebook” are for teenyboppers and (if at all) are very cautiously considering the ever-diminishing MySpace (I don’t even remember my login details for MySpace!) for their debut in the social mediasphere. It’s sad because many of them could have improved their brand identities a long time ago, had they been ahead of the curve. Exhibit A: Wisconsin Tourism Federation (WTF?)
Here (in a nutshell) are some of the survey’s interesting findings:
37% of the 271 marketers surveyed reported that their company does not include any social media tools
49% of companies do not have a specific approach regarding the use of social media on behalf of the company
10% discourage employees to use social media to communicate on behalf of the company
22% allow only marketing and communications employees to use social media on behalf of the organization
20% of companies encourage all employees to use social media channels to share messages on behalf of the company or its brands
Of the companies that do leverage social media…
47% manage and monitor customer feedback
40% reach key influencers
39% use it to understand the consumer and competitive landscape
32% use social media to create brand communities and fan pages
Ben & Jerry’s popular “Chubby Hubby” flavored ice cream announced via its Twitter account and Facebook fan page last week that the delectable treat will be renamed “Hubby Hubby” through the month of September in efforts to throw the company’s support behind same-sex marriages in its home state of Vermont.
Talk about using social media to make a social statement! Very cute, yet profound marketing tactic – I love it. I truly appreciate brands that stand behind a good cause, regardless of how it might impact their image and sales among those who don’t support their platform. It’s these kinds of bold moves that incite brand loyalty among do-gooders like myself!
The New York Times recently reported that only 11 percent of Twitter users are between the ages of 12 and 17 and that teens in general seem to be strongly averse to the medium (two little girls quoted in the article refer to Twitter as “lame”). They seem surprised by the fact that “adults” (no specific age demographic is noted) are dominating the Twitterverse.
Why exactly are you surprised, New York Times? Teenagers have consecutive days full of recreational activity and emotional connections with others within their age demographic. We “adults” are behind our desks at least 30% of the day and Twitter brings us the only real-time entertaining, informative and non client-specific dialogue with others that we experience between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. It only makes sense.
