Category Archives: Social Media

Social Media

Social Media for Techies: Why Do I Need It?


[Image via Life Magazine]

Are there two more groan-inducing, not-you-again, put-on-your-earmuffs words than “social media?” If you say yes, then this article might be for you. If you say no, this article still might be for you. Because regardless of whom you are and where you stand, you need to have a social media presence, and this post aims to explain why.

Social media, as I’ve sure you’ve witnessed, is now a viable form of mass communication, and its interactive, abbreviated, real-time nature has influenced our other forms of communicating. I think it’s reasonably safe to say that we tend to think and speak in shorter, more easily digestible forms today than we did when Thomas Payne wrote Common Sense (@tompayne Monarchy is oppressive. We need our own govt w/ representation for all. Who’s ready to fight for it?). We’ve become a nation of skimmers and crux-extractors and sound-biters, and if you can’t produce readily skimmable, summary-box content, well, let’s hope you’re writing for The New Yorker. Continue reading Social Media for Techies: Why Do I Need It? →

Events, SharePoint, Social Media

SPTechCon’s Top Tweets, Vol. 2

So tweeps at the ‘Con have definitely gotten past the point where I can keep up. Meaning, perchance you tweeted something ah-mazing, and I missed it, and thus you missed your chance to be immortalized here. Mea culpa! Talk to me at tonight’s SharePint–perhaps I’ll let you beat me in a plank-off.

  • @mikegil Best tweet of #sptechcon from my 20 y/o nephew, just lurking: “Everyone here looks like you.” Compliment? Jab? If so, to whom?
  • @BCJonesey: back of @cmcnulty2000 session = tweep-ville, glad I wore my glasses @janishall @mikegil #SPTechCon #Nerds
  • @DougHemminger Just heard @WonderLaura refer to a “G – U – I – D” instead of “Gooid”…Is “Gooid “a developer pronounciation? #SPTechCon
  • @lefteyes: “Everyone likes rainbows and ponies” #SPtechCon
  • @TiffanyWI: All the cool #SharePoint kids are at #sptechcon Continue reading SPTechCon’s Top Tweets, Vol. 2 →

Events, SharePoint, Social Media

SPTechCon’s Top Tweets, Vol. 1

While we aren’t rolling into the ‘Con until tomorrow morning, the party has definitely already gotten started. I know, right? Sounds impossible, and yet a quick search for #sptechcon on twitter says otherwise. Tweets have ranged from the informative recap to the feed-me-seymour to the cheerleader. Below, a few of my favorites:

  • @timferro Great #InfoPath session at #SPTechCon @cwheeler76 ! I now only dislike it rather than my previous outright loathing!
  • @Chomp1313 Loving #sptechcon but lack of chocolate may be a problem
  • @buckleyplanet @gvaro + Lady Gaga meat outfit = #SPTechCon lightning talks tonight at 5pm
  • @sitwalkstand Useful tool for explaining “virtual folders” and metadata in SP is Excel filter feature to create a SP view #sptechcon
  • @lefteyes: The base metaphor for document management is a filing cabinet. Why are we still using 1950 tech to organize info in 2011? #sptechcon Continue reading SPTechCon’s Top Tweets, Vol. 1 →

Events, Social Media

Are Tweets Another Way of Saying I Love You at 300 baud

Yesterday I attended the very useful MIT CIO Conference. For the first time at a conference, I was one of those a live tweeters, using HootSuite on my iPad. Unlike that curmudgeon Bill Keller,  I did not experience anything akin to crystal meth. Tweeting along the way enhanced the conference experience significantly.

The most enjoyable part was sharing thoughts with others in the room in real time. I was able to see the emphasis on parts of the dialogue that I would have otherwise missed. Based on retweets of my own messages, others likewise found value. Being constantly tuned in helped me keep my focus even after hours in a darkened theatre.

The immediate feedback from presenters was a nice surprise. To comment about a presenter and then get an individual response three minutes after the session is new and exciting. Continue reading Are Tweets Another Way of Saying I Love You at 300 baud →

Social Media

Facebook Pages for Businesses: Why You Need One, and What Not to Do

The other night, my dad called me to ask for my opinion on a crucial social media question: to Facebook Page or not to Facebook Page. You see, a year ago, my aunt started a raw dairy creamery on our farm in Vermont, and now that things are really picking up, my dad was wondering if establishing a web presence might be a smart idea (right now, new customers come only via word of mouth and CSAs).

“Of course!,” I told him. “Of course GammelGarten should have a web presence. In fact, it should have at least two—a website for evergreen information, and a Facebook page for daily updates and fan interaction.”

The way I see it, a Facebook page is  where a business can loosen its tie, kick off its loafers and host an informal shindig with no guest list. It’s a place for conversations, not broadcasts, and for questions and opinions, not press releases. And it is, or should be, the amusement park to Twitter’s slide—a place where visitors can enjoy multiple activities over a longer stretch of time and leave with a teddy bear and a fried-dough high.

This is hardly a revolutionary thought—and yet, a tour through the Facebook Pages of 5 of the biggest tech organizations reveals it’s also not yet a ubiquitous one. While some organizations consistently engage and give back to their communities, others let spam proliferate and tabs go unused. Below, 5 snapshots.

1)     WordPress Continue reading Facebook Pages for Businesses: Why You Need One, and What Not to Do →

Social Media

The 9 Things a B2B Should Be Doing on Twitter

Twitter is closing in on its 5thanniversary, which is kinda old in contempo-startup world.  Even though I jumped on the blogging bandwagon fairly early, and the Tumblr bandwagon almost immediately, I spent about the first four years of Twitter’s existence scoffing at it. I was one of the myriad “twitter-is-for-c-list-celebutards-oggling-eachothers’-french-toast-stix” kvetchers. And then, I graduated, got a job and realized that, as far as the B2B world is concerned, Twitter is maybe the best thing since trade shows.

Why? Because it humanizes a sector that is inherently barricaded. Those French toast stix pix? Humanizing. Because B2B employees eat breakfast too, yo.

But seriously, what Twitter provides is a direct path to both the direct customer and the indirect end-user.  It provides a steady and constantly updated stream of industry news, gossip and watercooler fodder. It provides guppies with a way to swim with sharks. It’s like a virtual bar crawl where cred isn’t a credential. Continue reading The 9 Things a B2B Should Be Doing on Twitter →