“It’s not you, it’s . . . you.” Passive Aggressiveness on Social Media.

My recent post What Annoys Me MOST about Facebook, stirred some fairly heated conversations among my colleagues and friends. “Are you talking about me?” “Were you talking about ___ (insert name here)?” Apparently it struck a nerve. Both positive and negative. I had numerous emails and tweets that agreed with me. Still others were defensive even if they had not specifically written any of my “top annoyances” on their page. I even had someone come up to me at a conference and say “I agree. I don’t care what type of chilli you’re making.” I was taken back for a second then laughed as I knew what he was referencing.

On the off chance you will get offended at this blog, please note, that my writings come from weeks of research. I mean, any social media “guru” knows I just need to study something for a few weeks and I can be called an “expert.”

A colleague, who I consider a good friend, knew I was writing this post and cautioned “Adam, you’re not a psychologist.” I agree. So please, get off my couch and just listen.

“Passive Aggressive” is defined by Dictionary.com as ” being, marked by, or displaying behavior characterized by expression of negative feelings, resentment, and aggression in an unassertive way (as through procrastination, stubbornness, and unwillingness to communicate) < span=””> <>passive-aggressive  personality”

You’ve seen it. A recent break-up. A friendship gone sour. Or simply just being unhappy about the way someone treated you. They are all painful experiences. I’m certainly not making light of them because we all know how painful those experiences are. Heartbreaking even.

But then, it all starts to unfold before our eyes in our news stream. A song posted with jabbing lyrics. Changing of a favorite quote to “If someone you love hurts you cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it.” Then like it or not, we are forced to choose sides. Or at least feel sympathy and “like” their status. After all, I’m not a good friend if I don’t publicly sympathize with their pain by clicking my mouse.

I like what Teresa Boarman said in her blog “A social media tip for the passive aggressive:”

“In general you can say anything to your twitter, or facebook, friends or in blog comments, emails or even text messages if you know the rules. Write what ever you want to and just end it with a “:)” or a “LOL”.  It goes something like this: “You suck LOL” or “I can’t stand you I would be surprised if your own mother loved you ”

So friends, I leave you with this: stop being passive aggressive on social media. The rest of us just want to get on FB and see cute photos of your kids, funny things that happened that day, or meaningful updates about your life.

I really would rather not be sucked into taking sides. And if I do take sides, I’ll let you know privately. LOL. =)

Advertisement

Marketers Ruin Everything.

Let me start with what annoys me about online video: commercials.

I went to Youtube recently to watch a commercial that someone in the office was talking about. Before the commercial came on, I had to watch another 30 second commercial. Watching a commercial in order to watch a commercial = one annoyed viewer.

But, I must get over it. With the rise in popularity of online video, companies everywhere are trying to “go viral” with their best sales pitches. Which means, other marketing companies will be placing their ads to catch your attention.

I tend to agree with Gary Vaynerchuck in that “Marketers ruin everything!” He said that, among many other outstanding things about social media and marketing, in his recent keynote address at the Digital Summit in Atlanta this week. #dsum11

It’s true though right? Great marketing gets your attention. From there, other marketers mimic the efforts. Which leads to more and more efforts that are similar (call it trends if you will). Eventually, the “market” is saturated with similar tactics and then the consumer chooses to ignore it. Let’s take a moment of silence for Banner Ads, Sponsored Search Results, and Direct Mail.

MATRIX is not immune to this thinking. We know that online video is popular, and we want a piece of it. However, rather than sitting around brainstorming the best way we can “go viral”, we’re evaluating the content that we currently have, and brainstorming ways we can simplify and put it on video.

Now, we’ve created video “case studies” for our Business Intelligence group, fun videos showcasing things about our corporate culture, and highlighting our true heart-felt importance of community service.

Have they gone viral? Hardly.  Do we want them to? Sure why not! Let’s make Kwesi Oseitutu the next Old Spice man!

The point is, MATRIX isn’t trying to spam, nor is our goal to win a Webby. We are trying to provide our customers another insight into our business and corporate culture.

Our most recent “video venture” is taking our technical jobs and putting them on video.  It’s not polished. It’s not over-produced. But it’s real. Real information about the opportunity, the work environment, and the skills needed to land the job.

In the end, we’ll keep testing out different forms of video that work for our business. Scratch the ones that fail, then saturate the streaming web with those that work.

“What is the Internet Anyway?”

Before you read the rest of this post, please, watch this video. (Thanks Rich for sending this to me last week).

I can’t stop laughing at this video with Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric. I love the commentary about the @ symbol; especially Katie drawing it with her finger in the air.

Ok, so seriously, why is this video worthy of a blog post?

Can you recognize the same conversations being held today? It wasn’t to long ago that many news casters were saying:

“What’s this Twitter thing?”
“How do you tweet someone?”

Do we see the trend here? Once skeptical of email and the “massive computer network,” America’s top news organizations didn’t even know about the internet. Now, they couldn’t do business without it.

Disagree if you will, but I believe that “social media,” and in particular my favorite, Twitter, is doing for our generation what the internet did 15 years ago.

Case-in-point:

• Every late-night talk show that I watch is using Twitter or Facebook to communicate with their audience. This morning on my drive into work, the morning show I listen to was using Twitter to ask  their listeners  to respond to a particular segment – all in real time.

• The most respected news organizations in the world use Twitter to communicate.

• Job seekers are finding jobs by leveraging their connections on Twitter.

• No more sitting on the phone going through the maze of automated hell. Customer service departments are leveraging Twitter to respond quickly to their customers. See a personal example in my own life here.

• Min Xuan evens goes as far to say that Twitter changed her life. P.S. love the 5 stages of Twitter acceptance slide.

When talking someone, I can immediately tell if they understand the power that Twitter has or if they still think it’s a colossal joke or waste of time.

I could list many more useful examples of how Twitter is changing (and has changed) communication, but the point of my blog is not to try and change your mind on Twitter. However, I do want the image of Katie Couric, and her initial conversations about the internet, burned into your brain. So that the next time you start to make fun of Twitter or brush it off as a waste of time, rethink how the internet has revolutionized our lives.

Unplugging – There’s (not) an App for that.

On my morning drive into work, I shuffle between several radio stations. News Talk, Country, Top 40, and “Family Friendly.” On Monday morning, I found myself engaged in a conversation that was taking place on Atlanta’s Q100.

The topic: are we too “plugged in”? Particularly, they were focusing on kids that play video games and watch movies for hours each day.

But, that evening, as I was thinking through the conversation and the amount of time that the parents and kids spend in front of their computers, TVs, videos etc., I started thinking of how social media has elevated the amount of time professionals spend “plugged in”.

Twitter. 4-square. Facebook. Apps. iPhones. Droids. iPads. iPods, Kindles. Blogs. The list could go on and on.

I was sitting on the couch and took a moment to look around. The scene in my house looked like this:

My wife and I were both on our laptops.
The TV was on.
I had Twitter, Facebook, and a blog up.
Both of us had our cell phones near our lap.
One ear-bud of my iPod was in so I could hear the music I wanted to download.
And did I mention I was trying to carry on IM chats with several kids in my church youth group?

Don’t get me wrong, I love social media (obviously). And the technology that our generation has at our finger tips is nothing but astounding.

But, being in a business where “building relationships” is key, it’s hard to learn the boundaries. According to HR Examiner, the most influential recruiters are those “plugged in”. In fact, 100% have a blog, 40% have more than one blog, 96% are on Facebook, 88% on Twitter, and on average have over seven different presences in social media (LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs etc).

Should I even touch on how many passwords you need to remember?

So, my question to you, does our generation know how to unplug? Is there an app for that? Should one of the 3,000 text messages teens send per month say “turn off UR cell”. I also believe one of the main reasons 64% of Americans watch TV online is so they can multitask.

It’s hard. Trust me. I tried last night and lasted till about 9pm when I checked the weather online, then found myself bouncing off into four other sites within a matter of minutes.

My prediction for social media in 2011 – people will be seeking “balance”. Learning how to leverage the powerful tools, yet not spend their energy trying to be in all conversations at all times – becoming better at targeting the right conversations.

So, now that I’ve written this blog, I’m going to turn-off my computer and go for a run. . . after I check Facebook one last time.

Takeaways from #SocialFresh. Social Media Atlanta Week – 2010.

Thanks to Bob Kennedy from ExactTarget, I was able to get into the afternoon session of the sold-out SocialFresh meeting (part of Social Media Atlanta Week).

Main topic of discussion: Facebook.

I still think many companies roll their eyes when they hear that Facebook is one of the best tools for business. To all you eye-rollers, that’s fine, the rest of us will connect with your customers. (At least for the next five years).

Case-in-point – Chick-fil-a.

Not only one of the best designed Facebook pages I’ve seen, but they truly interact with their audience. They have their “corporate” page (actually founded by a fan), but they also have local restaurant fanpages. I don’t think I’ve met anyone that is “lukewarm” about Chick-fil-a. They either love it, or don’t. So for them, interacting locally on Facebook with their “fans” is really paying off.

Me and My Son trying the Spicy Chicken. I reserved mine through Facebook. Then promoted through Twitter. May 2010

Corporately it’s paying off too. Most of their marketing for the Spicy Chicken Sandwhich was done through social media. I don’t have the exact number, but over 1 million people “reserved” a spot to go into a local restaurant and try the new sandwich. 1 million people made reservations at a FAST FOOD joint! (Myself included.) Tell them that social media doesn’t work . .

Moving on  . . .

Other takeaways:

• Facebook is going public in 2012.

• Don’t use bit.ly for shortening URLs (guilty). It’s an open site. So just putting a + after any bit.ly URL shows all of the clicked information. Try it. Copy this url – http://bit.ly/aU5o0j – put it into your brower, then but a + right after and hit enter. (Thanks to Yvett Evans from Vitrue for that insight).
• Studies show that campaigns that start on Facebook perform better if you drive the audience to another page on Facebook. So, instead of creating ads that then drive the audience to your website, drive them to a uniquely created tab on Facebook. – Thanks to @justinkistner for that insight.
• Engagement life of targeted campaigns on Facebook – two weeks.
• Companies are modeling their websites after social media. More social. More interaction. Which wasn’t cutting-edge news to me, but it’s good to hear. If you think about it, 90% of websites are one-way communication. But, allowing your audience to interact with your brand on your website is key. Especially if and when social media starts to lose it’s hype.

The afternoon ended with a great panel discussion (Vitrue, Graco, and Webtrends) on the use of Facebook for business.

From Left to Right.

Erika Brookes is the vice president, marketing for Vitrue.

Kelly Voelker Public Relations and Social Media Manager, Graco Children’s Products.

Justin Kistner is the Senior Manager of Social Media Marketing for Webtrends

“You’re so vain, I’ll bet you think this [POST] is about you.”

It’s a virus that is affecting and infecting numerous social media “gurus” in epidemic proportions.  Doctors would say they need to be quarantined; given a double-dose of humility, and once their symptoms subside, allowed back into the community. What’s the name of the virus? Celebrityitis.

I do tend to point fingers at the actual Hollywood celebrities. With their contagious battles for the most followers and vigorously promoting themselves all over the media.

Apparently this virus goes “viral,” through social media.

The symptoms of someone infected with Celebrityitis are:

1. Feverishly narcissistic about who they talk to at networking events. Only talking with those with equal or more followers than them.
2. Diarrhea of the mouth – about themselves, their speaking engagements, their moods, their blog hit count.
3. Hot and Cold spells about authentically connecting with “non-celebrities”.

If indeed you come across someone with the symptoms, protect yourself first. Take all necessary precautions to keep yourself well (and humble).

Let’s all remember that social media is best used when you’re “helping” others. Meaning, even if you’re trying to promote business, you’re really first trying to help them with a problem. More so, let’s remember that though some have been using social media for a few years now, it’s still relatively new. So, if someone is just starting out, help them.

And to the infected: if you have thousands of followers on Twitter/Facebook or numerous people subscribing to your blog, make sure you don’t have the above symptoms. If so, take a tablespoon full of humility. Let’s not forget that social media can tear you down as quickly as it “built you up.”

P.S. Here’s a little music to help during recovery.

Your ‘Office’ Social Media Personalities – That’s What She Said.

Most people know the socially and professionally awkward Michael Scott. His inappropriate one-liners and off-color humor catapulted The Office to the top of the ratings for the past few years. As I was watching the other night, I thought about the different characters, and how they would use social media if Dunder Mifflin encouraged it.

Click Here to read by post on the MATRIX Blog about the typical social media personalities in your office.

What Happens on Twitter Stays . . . Everywhere.

I don’t think people actually realize that what happens on Twitter can hang around like an unwelcome in-law (none of mine of course, I love all mine). If you are looking for a job, or just want to KEEP the job you have, think twice, and maybe three times about what you tweet. Social media can be a very powerful tool for finding a job, gathering information, and networking. However, it can royally mess up your career, or land you in court, if you don’t use common sense when updating.

Below are actual tweets I found by doing a few simple searches on Twitter:

1. So since my boss is a #$%*@, I have today off and may get fired tomorrow.
2. En route to work…still drunk
3. So I came to work this morning w/ my shirt inside out, my hair a mess, and kinda drunk. . .
4. From the moment I got into work today, all I’ve wanted to do is get drunk…
5. I hate my job, boss and schedule.
6. People are stupid. I hate them. My boss just walked in. I hate him too.
7. I hate when my boss trys to wear feminine color polish on her manly @*$ hands!!!!
8. One of my coworkers will realize that smell is actually his breath….
9. So according to my coworkers my new shampoo and conditioner makes me smell like im drunk? Haha how does that work?
10. Got drunk as hell last night….at work bout to pass out
11. At work but not working, wassup wit u
12. I’m having a fantastic time not working at work, lol.

Though I got a good laugh out of some of the tweets, especially number 7, I couldn’t help but think of what might happen to these people if someone in their organization saw their tweet.

I don’t mean to “scare” you so you never use social media. It’s a great tool. But just re-think that status update or tweet before you hit publish.

My Interview with “The Job Stalker”

Through a series of Twitter interactions I met Brendan Tripp, a marketing and communications professional in the Chicago area. Brendan writes a regular blog series titled “The Job Stalker” where he shares helpful resources about for those that are looking for a job.

Recently, Brendan highlighted MATRIX as a company job seekers should get to know on Twitter. And for those that don’t know I am the “voice behind the M.” You can read the full interview where we discuss the job market, social media, and networking here:

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/job-stalker/2010/08/some-other-folks-on-twitter.html

“How Do You Know She’s a Witch?” . . . “She Looks Like One!”

Social Media. Social Media. Social Media!

There. Let’s get it out of our system.

Nowadays companies love to throw a social media “phrase” into the mix, sometimes completely unrelated and out of the blue. Much like the peasants in Monty Python (watch the scene here). trying to dress up a witch, companies throw up a Facebook page and declare they are now on social media.

Yes, SM is great. But I say it all the time, it’s not the “Holy Grail” of marketing.

More importantly than creating a Facebook Page or jumping onto twitter, is looking at how SM can fit into your overall marketing strategy. More specifically let’s talk about the “customer experience.”

In some companies the “customer experience” is managed by a completely different department. But at MATRIX we talk a lot about it in our marketing meetings. After all, the marketing department should be helping with your branding, and the customer’s experience is going to brand you. Good or bad.

Because Social Media was the “buzz” of 2009, companies every where were throwing up SM positions and targeting recent college grads to start tweeting.

I understand that SM its new territory and companies were unsure about it’s “value,” but one thing that was failed to realize was SM, if done right, plays a HUGE part in your customer experience.

So, let’s back up. What do you do? How can you ensure that SM fits into your overall strategy, and guarantee that it provides a great experience for your customers?

1. Make sure your SM team knows your brand! It’s easy to tweet or create a Facebook page, but does the person behind it know your brand to the core? Better yet, do they know your target audience.
2. Train your team on “best practices.” How should they respond to a complaint? Or to a question they don’t know? – For Heaven’s sake, don’t just say “I don’t know. . .”
   
3. Engage them in the discussions about your marketing strategy. The SM team should know what the overall goals are. Brainstorm ways that SM can fit into and help achieve those goals. Basically, make sure they know where the company is going.
4. Incorporate SM efforts into your CRM strategy. If your SM team deals directly, even as much as a RT from a client or customer, it needs to be documented. You want to ensure that the rest of the company knows there was an interaction. Especially if there was a complaint. If you customer complains on social media, they shouldn’t have to then talk on the phone with someone that has no idea about the complaint.
5. Encourage them to “look deeper.” This is probably the most vague point, but don’t just settle for the status quo. Encourage them to  look deeper at the stats. What are the trends, what does your audience seem most interested in?

As you quest for your own Holy Grail using Social Media, keep in mind it all comes down to forming genuine, not illusory relationships. Providing a way to connect with your customer and ensuring that they have a good experience with your brand.