Posts tagged ‘twitter’

Social Marketing Bulletin–List of Change, Local Public Health and More

on June 4, 2009

It’s been awhile since the last Social Marketing Bulletin, but all the more reason to get on with the show. The Bulletin includes items that encompass social change, social marketing and social media:

1. FEATURED: “I Know. I Took the Test.” I chose this initiative because it encompasses social change, social marketing and social media, as well as public health, non-profits, and government 2.0. What is it? The cross-collorative effort to recognize National HIV Testing Day on June 27th from AIDS.gov, the CDC, the White House’s Act Against AIDS campaign and other work by sister agencies including healthfinder.gov and womenshealth.gov. I’m excited to participate and observe this effort evolve as it is agencies walking the walk and reaching across agency lines to serve the people. (disclosure: I work with healthfinder.gov and am doing work to support this effort. However, I’d still feature it as I believe AIDS.gov is doing amazing work and blazing trails for fellow HHS agencies and public health!)

2.  SOCIAL CHANGE: Beth Kanter, Geoff Livingston and Shannon Whitley announced the launch of the “List of Change.” The list is a compilation of social change blogs and currently is over 75+. If yours isn’t added yet, feel free to join the rest of us changebloggers and help spread the word!

3.  PUBLIC HEALTH: Friend and colleague Andre Blackman recently posted an excellent interview/case study on how folks in Salt Lake City are utilizing social media for public health. Highlights include discussion on the YouTube video they created in-house with a flip camera, iMovie and a $0 budget, as well as their integrated approach.

4. GOVERNMENT 2.0: Related, I am part of the Program Committee for Tim O’Reilly’s Gov’t 2.0 Expo and Showcase in September. (This is a volunteer role.) At this event, anyone can submit a proposal to present. I am rallying anyone (especially public health agencies) at all levels of government to submit entries. I also know that the committee is looking forward to hearing from a more diverse collection of proposals from near and far, as well as more local and state agencies.

5.  GOVERNMENT 2.0: Sunlight Labs recently put together an in-depth evaluation and suggested re-design for the U.S. Supreme Court. Reading through the blog and studying the before-and-after designs, there are many take-aways in communicating online. Some themes I noticed were one: 1) Simplify. 2) Provide graphics and images to paint your story, and 3) Design, think and write from the consumer’s perspective, not the organization’s.

6.  SOCIAL MEDIA: A new Twitter study was announced from Pace University and Participatory Media Network. One conclusion from this study was that “Only 22% of 18-24 yr. olds are on Twitter.” Interestingly, another Twitter study from the Harvard Business Review came out which found that the Top 10% of Twitter users produce 90% of Twitter activity. Makes ya go hmmm…Still not sure what Twitter is? Just out Mashable’s Top 7 Twitter Tutorials on YouTube.

7.  EVENTS: Next week will be the “Games for Health” Conference on June 11 and 12 in Boston. I can’t attend, but will be sure to be following along on Twitter as my latest blog crush is the blog healthGAMERS. Other events coming up this summer include the Social Marketing in Public Health Conference later in June and CDC Health Marketing Conference in August. For more events, check out SB’s eventst page.

8. SOCIAL MARKETING: The number of “social marketeers” on Twitter continues to expand. Social marketing and behavior change folks and thought leaders I’ve identified include: @nedra (Nedra Weinreich), @chiefmaven (Craig Lefebvre), @sm1guru (Mike Newton-Ward), @stephendann (Stephen Dann), @ssuggs (Suzanne Suggs), @socMKT (Dr. Stephan Dahl), @socialmktgNW (McCann Erickson’s Social Marketing Shop), @jimgrizzell (Jim Grizzel), @mikekujawski (Mike Kujawski), and @JimMintz (Jim Mintz). Great to have more people joining us here!

9.  SOCIAL MARKETING: Worldways, a social marketing agency based in Colordo, is revving up with its new blog We Take Sides. Don’t you love that title? I think it’s great positioning because it places them as a leader, who isn’t scared about saying and doing what they believe in.

What did you catch this week in the world of social change, social marketing and social media that you think deserves a shout out?

Is Anyone Listening to Social Media Anymore?

on March 17, 2009

I feel my current observations beg this question.

Many are discovering the joys of social media, and as more people are pushing out their materials, whether opportunists or conversationalists, I feel like there is more and more pushing happening, than actual listening, are better yet, engaging.

3 Points of Evidence

  • The Anti-Fan Movement: The brilliant Geoff Livingston alluded to this very issue himself when he recently recently wrote, “Twitter’s incredible growth has caused incredible follower populations and corporate/personal marketing activity. It’s also causing a backlash.”  In his full post, he also alludes to three other bloggers who also allude to this same phenomenon. Thus, Livingston decided to take action and therefore installed the “Geoff Livingston Anti-Fan Page.” According Livingston, the anti-fan movement is for those that “…are tired of follower packs, friend counts, and clamours for social media popularity. (and Livingston is not alone in his thoughts…)
  • Mark Drapeau (aka @cheeky_geeky) shares this observation based on his post, “SXSW? Forget It,” where he reminds us that we biologically can only remember so much mentality. And thus, alluding that the #SXSW tweets alone are so saturated with information by more people using Twitter that it’s hard to follow the backchannel conversation. Drapeau greatly reminds us of the important piece of information that we can’t remember ALL that information.  He also reiterated one of my favorite quotes: “It’s not information overload, but filter failure.”
  • Reverse Networking Effect: This article discusses the “reverse networking effect,” that in sum, describes the process that when new people join, others are motivated to leave. I find this true in myself when it comes to Twitter followers. I used to be so excited to get connected, engage and learn from a new person, and now, follow invites are often pushers, those trying to sell or get me to subscribe that I find myself becoming disheartened to some degree. I strongly encourage reading the article as it gives some good brain food to chew on.

What’s Your Observation?

Okay, I shared with you mine, and some other people’s opinions, what about yours? Do you feel people are still connecting online? Still engaging in that personal, authentic and communal spirit?

flickr photo credit: Orange_Beard

For Twitter Success, Just Add Meaning.

on February 6, 2009

With Dr. Mark Drapeau’s ReadWriteWeb Goverati article yesterday, it seems that the beast is awakening and out of this slumber is arising more Twitter accounts, and thus more friends to meet and conversations to maintain.

As a new Twitter member, one may be wondering a series of questions that I hope this post offers a “quick guide” to successful Twitter use and community, with the key ingredient reiterated at the end.

“What is Twitter?”

Twitter is a micro-blogging social media tool that asks the question, “What are you doing?” Individuals, who have logged in and registered for the free service, answer the question within 140 characters or within multiple updates and then ‘update’ their status. Twitter works by individuals agreeing to ‘follow’ a certain Twitter account. Once following this account, the person then gets the account’s updates. It is a great medium that lends itself to both one-to-one communications, as well as one-to-many communications. In the past six months, Twitter has gone from 600k accounts, to 2.9 million accounts.

“How can I/We use Twitter?”

The list below outlines 13 different functions that both individuals and organizations can use Twitter’s platform to accomplish:

1.    Inquiry Response
2.    Reputation Management
3.    Promotion
4.    Event Planning
5.    Brand Equity
6.    Marketing
7.    Fundraising
8.    Reminders
9.    Emergency and Disaster Response
10.    Provide information, news and tips
11.    Research
12.    Conversation Tracking through Hashtags (i.e. #WAD08, #healthcomm)
13.    Social Networking

“Now what?”

  1. Find YOUR Voice. We all have different perspectives and a variety of experiences, and as I @cdorobek reiterate, we make each other better. Whether your Twitter handle is your real name or a nickname, it doesn’t matter, what matters…is getting started and getting involved.
  2. Add Value. Twitter’s capabilities are great. But for them to stick and for you to get the most out of it, you must find value not just in the technology, but in the conversations and those you connect with. Thus, respond, connect and engage.
  3. Create Meaning. This one stretches beyond Twitter, but into social media strategy in general. So, you create a blog, a wiki, a thingy-maggig, people aren’t going to use it unless it adds meaning to their lives.

“How do I connect?”

  1. For Government folks, check out GovTwit. And, have you signed up for Government 2.0 Camp yet? Are registered on Govloop?
  2. For Health folks, check out this top 100 health Twitter-ers list. (Also, be sure to check out next week’s DC Social Media Club event about Health 2.0 or there’s DC HealthCamp in late February, the Health 2.0 Conference).
  3. For others, check out Twitter packs, Twitter Search and the JustTweetIt directory.

“Where can I learn more?”

  1. Ogilvy’s Twitter Blog Posts Series
  2. Twit Tip Blog by Problogger, (@problogger)
  3. Government Micro-Blogging Information
  4. Twitter Support
  5. Twitter Wiki

In sum, just add meaning. This may seem easier said than done, so I want to help. What are your other Twitter questions? I can already think of a few (tools, metrics, etc.) Feel free to comment, and I will offer more in the comments. Finally, I too am on Twitter: @socialbttrfly. Feel free to follow, and I look forward to creating meaning together.

Words of the Year for 2008: What’s Yours?

on December 30, 2008

One of the NY Times 2008 Buzzwords

2008 was a big and busy year, can you imagine having to choose just ONE word to describe it? Just ONE?!? Some of our favorite sources share what their “Words of the Year” are below:

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New OxFord American Dictionary: hypermiling. According to the Web site, Hypermiling was coined in 2004 by Wayne Gerdes and means “to attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques.” In 2008, with the soaring gas prices, many of found ourselves “hypermiling” or just miling…by running/walking on our two legs to work!

Merriam-Webster: Bailout. Does this one even need describing? According to the Web site, “bail out” is defined in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition as “a rescue from financial distress.” In 2008, the word received the highest intensity of lookups on Merriam-Webster Online over the shortest period of time. Other contender’s in Merriam-Webster’s top ten include: vet, socialism, maverick, rogue, misogyny, turmoil, trepidation, bipartisan, and precipice…All so positive sounding, don’t you think?

The New York Times. The Times, on the other hand, has chosen it’s set of “buzzwords” for 2008. These words include “Obamanation,” “Frugalista,” “Staycation,” “DigitalCliff,” “Fail,” and many others.

Webster’s New World Dictionary: Overshare. With popular votes taken and input from their editors, overshare was this year’s choice. According to the Web site, “overshare” is a verb that means to divulge excessive personal information, as in a blog or broadcast interview, prompting reactions ranging from alarmed discomfort to approval. In 2008, with information-mania and the economic problems as well, overshare can have stand for a plethora of meanings and correlations.

Global Language Monitor: Change. The other two in the top three were bailout and Obamamania.

SocialButterfly’s 2008 Word of the Year: Influence. For better or worse, as a buzzword, an academic concept or in terms of personal reflection, the word influence was spoken of, talked about, measured, desired, hated, calculated or loved. Thus, for me, the term “influence” describes 2008. (Web 2.0 was a close second, but that term has just gotten…grilled well and overdone.)

Twitter. In Twitter style, I asked SB follow-ers what their word for 2008 would be. One the respondents even mentioned that “Twitter” would be their word for the year! With the spike in news (and usage of Twitter) increasing daily, seems to make sense.

What do you think? Do you think these words say “2008?” Look forward to reading in the comments, what you would choose as your 2008 Word of the Year? Or, you can be like the American Dialect Society, and wait until January to reveal. They are taking nominations now. =)

Illustration by Jessica Hische
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Happy Birthday SocialButterfly…and Me!

on December 22, 2008

Today marks SocialButterfly’s 1-year birthday.

This past year was full of surprises, new adventures, and has been such a great whirlwind that I feel much like the kitten in the picture – trying to catch my breathe and “paws.” My anthem for 2008 was “Too Blessed to be Stressed,” and many times, I found myself needing to be reminded of just that.

This past year, I:

  • Moved 4 times, one being from the middle of the Missouri River in Columbia, Missouri to the row houses of Capitol Hill.
  • Have been deliriously happy as a new bride-to-be. After a two-year, long distance relationship, my honey and I are now sharing the same city and enjoying building a new life together. Bless our hearts, we looked at 33 different places in DC before we decided upon our current apartment. Needless to say, I felt like we had earned our real estate licenses!
  • I graduated grad school, finished a fellowship, wrote and presented my thesis paper across the pond, and began a full-time gig doing what I love – social marketing and social media marketing.
  • Worked with a total of about 8 part-time volunteers, including my parents, one of my best friends, and a few people from our community in Arkansas, through a grassroots effort, created and built a fund raiser for Multiple Sclerosis and raised over $70,000 in one night – making my total efforts in four years of MS fund raising a total of $325k+.
  • Made many new friends and colleagues that continue to inspire me through Changebloggers, motivate me through connections on Twitter and online community, support me in my development and run the race with me….so to all you readers and friends, I hope I have done the same for you in return. If not, give me a little kick in the pants, and I’ll get going.

For 2009, who knows what will be next….but I promise you, we’ll be sure to keep it interesting. As a fellow reminder to both myself and my readers, keep perspective, and as a friend of mine once told me, “Keep the main thing, the main thing.”

Not only is it the blog’s birthday this week, but it’s also mine…in case the title through you for a loop. =)

flickr credit: loveberries
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New Career Finding Strategies for Job Searchers

on August 17, 2008

My now-fiance had a great blog post idea: How social media is transforming the job search and recruiting field – Thus, here we are, and below I hope you find some great helpful resources and add to this developing list.

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Social Networking Sites

Linkedin - Not only does Linkedin allow people to post jobs, but you can also post jobs yourself, or send jobs to your connections. In addition, you can search for jobs at certain firms, see who posted them, and see if you know anyone who works there. Very informative for the investigative types.

Facebook – Certain Facebook group and fan pages are used for recruiting potential job candidates. For example, the U.S. Department of State uses its fan page as a recruiting tool into foreign policy, public affairs, foreign services officer, or even offers to help navigate a career path.

MyWorkster – MyWorkster offers its users a professional presence online. You can create a profile, resume and even a video resume. This network also has a job listing database, blogs, and more.

Twitter Recruiter’s/Job Postings

Many people post job openings they’ve either heard about or are currently trying to fill in a tweet, with a link to the job posting. (One great reason alone to become a Twitter-er!) However, more companies and individuals are creating Twitter-streams to post jobs and recruit talent. Some include:

  • Jim Stroud
  • Jason Alba
  • InfoSourcer
  • IMC2
  • Interactive Jobs

Jim Stroud over at the Recruiters Lounge has posted about recruiters and Twitter…surprised that he could only find 85 recruiters in a Twitter search! In my opinion, that’s 85 reasons right there to start a twitter feed.

To find information on a particular industry or job field, use Twitter Search to conduct a search query for certain keywords like “job positions,” “recruiter” or “career advice.”

TwitHire is also a Twitter application that lets you bundle your job postings into 140 characters. It’s also a great resource to look at current job openings.

Blogs

Jeremiah Owyang has created a blog series “On the Move,” highlighting individuals moving within the social media profession. The series also lists great resources to getting plugged into a social media job, as well as listing current high-profile movers and shakers in the social media world (those who work at Fortune 5000 firms with 1000 employees or more).

Alltop.com, a blog aggregate service by topic, has a ‘career‘ page, which features numerous blogs about how to get a job, keep a job, recruit for jobs and more.

Search for blogs based in the city you want to work. For example, KCRecruiting is a Kansas city blog that works to connect job seekers with KC opportunities or author Jim Durbin’s other more general blog, Social Media Headhunter.

More

There’s also other, perhaps more traditional, job search and recruiting strategies too:

  • Monster,
  • Job Fox,
  • Job-Hunt ( who has a list of Fortune 500 career sites and employers by state!),
  • Careerbuilder,
  • the Web site of the firm you want to work for,
  • employee blogs or Twitter account,
  • CEO blogs of the firm(s) you want to work for,
  • researching the firm’s social media use/presence,
  • industry-specific list servs,
  • your college/University network,
  • your schools network (i.e. Mizzou Mafia for Missouri Journalism),
  • fraternity and sorority networks,
  • professional organization networks and Web sites,
  • Honorary organizations (i.e. Delta Sigma Pi, Omicron Delta Kappa)
  • listen to career advice and industry news podcasts
  • Word of Mouth (friends, parents, mentors)

Basically, my research has shown that social media is revolutionizing now only business – but how to get employees, find employees and to become an employee.

I know this is a huge, developing topic. And, there’s lots to add, so I look forward to hearing from you all and your experiences. =)

*Note: I didn’t make this information industry specific, but I could if you guys would like. It does lean a bit towards those in social media….course, I’ve also noticed that for social media job searchers, in a way, you have the easiest of jobs because those are the jobs people are posting in the social media space. Other fields/industries are a bit slow to catch on…are
am I wrong?

photo credit: rockronie on flickr

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The Government’s A-Twitter: Comprehensive List of Government Twitter Feeds

on June 26, 2008

This post is written in the spirit of social media guru Robert Scoble’s visit to DC and his interviews with political reps to discuss tech policy. Specifically, let’s talk about the fact that the U.S. government is a-twittering. True words, government and Twitter in the same sentence. Scoble reflects in his post here.

Even U.S. President George Bush sent out his 1st Twitter with the help of Sen. John Culberson when Sen. Culberson was showing the President both Twitter and Qik. You can see it here!

American Flag

Government Agencies

For government agencies, most often, the Twitter account is in conjunction with the government’s related blog. So, now, we’re getting government agencies who are not only blogging, but using TwitterFeed to promote the posts through Twitter. I am still rounding up info. to find government accounts on Jaiku and/FriendFeed.

@dipnote – The U.S. Department of State

@govgab - USA.gov, component of their blog, GovGab

@greenversations – The Environmental Protection Agency

@TSABlogTeam – Transportation Security Administration, Based on TSA’s Evolution of Security Blog

@USAgov – USA.gov

@GobiernoUSA – USA.gov’s Spanish Portal

@womenshealth - Womenshealth.gov

@NASA - Well, it’s NASA =) Check out NASA’s Twitter box and find various other NASA Twitter feeds about certain missions including @MarsPhoenix, @nasacolab, and 13 other NASA related feeds!

Government Officials

@BarackObama - Barack OBama

@joebiden – Sen. Joe Biden

@JimDeMint – Sen. Jim DeMint

@SenatorDodd – Sen. Chris Dodd

@ChuckGrassley – Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa)

@frankwatson – Sen. Frank Watson

@jiminhofe – Sen. Jim Inhofe (Oklahoma)

@johnculberson – Congressman John Culberson

@MarkUdall – Congressman Mark Udall (Colorado) On his website, he is even implementing his own mini-social network for citizens to join, blog and join county groups!

@TomLatham – Congressman Tom Latham (Iowa)

@neilabercrombie – Congressman Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii)

@ThadMcCotter – Congressman Thad McCotter (Michigan)

@CongJoeWilson – Congressman Joe Wilson

@schwarzenegger - California Gov. Arnold Schwarsenegger

@GovernorGibbons – Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons

@govgranholm – Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm

@johncherry – Michigan Lieutenant Gov. John Cherry

@PeterKinder – Missouri Lieutenant Gov. Peter Kinder

U.S. States

@coloradogov – Colorado Government

@kygov – Kentucky Government

@vermontgov – Vermont Government

@UtahGov – Utah Government

@SCGOV - South Carolina Government

@www_maine_gov – Maine Government

@rigov – Rhode Island Government

Other

@TheWhiteHouse - The White House

@HouseFloor - U.S. House of Representatives

@SenateFloor – The U.S. Senate

@NRSC – National Republican Senatorial Committee

@secgen – The U.N. Secretary General

If I missed any, please let me know and I’ll add them to the list!

Ok, what are your thoughts? Is this a good thing? What does this mean, and how will it affect or impact constituent and government relations? LOVE to hear, =)

photo cred: Flickr, vagabondrhythm


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5 Points I Learned About Blogging (while not blogging)

on May 18, 2008

Hello again friends, and I thank you for your patience as I took a much needed California vacation and attended my graduate school graduation from the Missouri School of Journalism. And, after all my hard work, especially the past couple of months, I had a moment where it all was captured in tears of joy….as I walked across the stage. Yes, I was that girl. haha

In the past week and a half I learned some things about blogging…while actually not blogging. For better and for worse, they are:

  1. The Big Duh. If you are not daily checking in on the blogosphere and your online community, your growth and readership will be stunted. (duh right?) =) But, I realized this would happen, and am completely content with it, as I know I fully plan to continue blogging and developing this further in the future. But for the time being, I just needed a break.
  2. Connect. Connecting with those you care about in real life, is just as important, and more important (sorry friends) than connecting with those online. While in Cali, I remembered more of the joys of living away from a computer, a phone, email, etc…and made a mental note to keep my online social life in check. On the other side, I thought of many a time to Twitter, especially for site/restaurant recommendations!
  3. Don’t be bashful. Tell your family and friends about your blog…they too are interested. And this alone can spark and spread word of mouth, and provide instant feedback.
  4. You will miss it and feel out of the loop when you return. Beth Dunn discusses this feeling in-depth when she took a hiatus from blogging for the first time in 5 years this past March.
  5. Your body can only take so much. After going off of maybe 4-5 hours of sleep a night the past five months, conducting research, writing a thesis, traveling on vacation, moving to Washington D.C., commuting up to 3 hours a day, doing event marketing off-site for our MS Quest non-profit and other freelance work…I woke up the day after graduation with a sore throat, no voice, and $15 worth of cough drops and cold medicine. Love your readers, but remember to love yourself too. ;)

Look forward to continuing the social marketing and social media conversation…as I’m back!

You all know what I have been up to lately…feel free to fill me in on what you’ve been up to in the comments or through email at socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.

Photo Credit: bettisue (Flickr)

Nominated Neighbor: Len Edgerly shares his love for social media, art and his motto to: TLFC

on May 2, 2008

Please forgive my delay in posting. I had to defend my thesis, travel from DC to KC to Columbia and get all my paperwork together in the past 5 days! However, Len is a great sport and was nominated by our previous neighbor Beth Dunn, over at Small Dots. Read below to learn more about the newest addition to the blogger neighborhood!

Blog Name: LenEdgerly.com

Blog Topics: Arts, technology, politics, travels.

About the Author: Len Edgerly lives in Denver and Cambridge, Mass., and is retired from careers in journalism and the natural gas industry. He podcasts every Wednesday, alternating between the Audio Pod Chronicles and the Video Pod Chronicles, both available at iTunes and from links on his blog. He is a board member of the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs. He enjoys giving presentations to arts groups and introduce them in non-technical terms to the wonders of the Internet and why they should be playing around with things like Twitter, podcasting and Qik. He is a Kindle enthusiast, an avid photographer, and an Obama volunteer.

If you could live on any street, what would that street be named and why? Easy Street, and I already live there, it seems. I’m very fortunate since age 45 to have been able to work hard at what I love, without having to worry about finances.Flickr Farm1

Who would be your dream real-life neighbor? The poet W.S. Merwin.

If you customized your own license plate, what would it say and why? In fact, I do have a customized license plate. It reads TLFC. My wife, exasperated with all my spiritual striving in Zen and elsewhere once asked me, “Why don’t you ever just take life as it #$%*& comes?” This struck me as an inspired formulation for a good life, something we could agree on, thus the plate. Please don’t tell the state of Colorado Motor Vehicles Department, though. On the form applying for the plate I said the letters stood for “Take Life as it Fully Comes.” Either way, I like it.

What would you gift to a new neighbor as the perfect welcoming gift? A fresh bag of coffee beans.

What’s your favorite blog post and why? “La Belle Grammaire,” one of the posts I labored long and hard to write in French three years ago when my wife and I spent two months at L’Institut de francais, near Cannes.

What’s one lesson you’ve learned from blogging? Twitter is hell on my blogging habit. [You can follow Len @LenEdgerly.]

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This continuous weekly series highlights different blogs and their respective bloggers in the blogosphere neighborhood. Following the great Mr. Rogers, who tells us to ‘Get to know your neighbor,’ this series introduces us to our blogger neighbors, making for a more unified, collaborative voice for the social sector. Like to nominate someone or be featured yourself? Contact me @ socialbutterfly4change@gmail.com.