The Blame Game

Over the years, there has been many articles written about how certain Social Networks were causes for certain events.

Below are a few examples:

• Mashable writes about how Facebook Can Get You Fired, Dumped, And Yes, Evicted
• Gawker explains how a bank intern gets fired because of Facebook.
• Another story of getting fired from Facebook is from Switched, a teen calls job “boring”
• Most recently, the famous story about how a would-be cisco employee would of got hired except Twitter got him fired.
• Americanshelflife talks about how she got dumped because of Facebook

Now noticed, all the articles have one thing in common and that is doing the blame game.  It seems like placing the blame of the bad news on the Social Network is more shocking than comparing it to a normal event without Social Media involved.

It appears with the new hype and phenomenon of Social Media taking place that these stories get hyped due to having the event take place on Social Media.  This maybe the case, but they are still all missing the main point and that’s being accountable for their own actions.

Social Media Are Just Communication Tools and Mediums

Twitter, Myspace and Facebook are just Social Networks.  They are communication tools that we use on a daily basis.  Although these are great sources for communication, they are just that and doesn’t force us to do anything  against our will.

If you ever heard the saying….

“Computers don’t make errors, people make errors”

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”

These sayings imply that to not blame the tools but to blame the users.

Be Accountable For Your Actions

There is a great movement and book out there if you haven’t heard it, it’s called QBQ – The Question Behind The Question and Personal Accountability.

That’s what this is all about, these users on these Social Networks need to stop blaming Social Media for their actions and take personal accountability for what they did.

It’s not Facebook’s fault that the users got fire for posting incriminating information…..

It’s not Twitters fault for displaying a users Tweet on his careless opinion about his future employer…

It’s not Myspace’s fault that you got dumped……

Let’s look at the cold hard facts.  These users are all soley responsible for their actions and just because they have the ability to showcase their information to the world they should have the common sense to be more careful in what they put out there on the net.

Just because you entertained the idea that you will never get caught because it’s Social Media, doesn’t make it right.  If you published your hatred opinion in a book instead of Facebook, don’t think you will not fall under the same consequences.  Doing something wrong is doing something wrong regardless if you get caught or not.

Bottom line is that Social Media is not to blame….the blame is upon yourself…take personal accountability for your actions and next time make better judgement calls before you go out and do something you will regret.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Don’t Blame Twitter, Myspace or Facebook; Blame Yourself

Social Media can be time consuming

There’s an old saying that goes “Too much of a good thing can be bad for you”.  This is basically addiction.

Addiction can lead to loss of work, sleep and losing track of time.   If you are an employer, chances are that you do no wish for your employees to be engrossed in avenues other than their job when they are at work.

Let’s face the facts, Social Media can be very time consuming if you are not too careful.  Social Networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are breeding zones for social engagement and interaction. It’s quick, easy and fun. This can be very easy to get caught up in.

Many users also put a lot of time and effort in creating  a very power Social Marketing presence in their business plan.

For Self-employed individuals this many not be an issue because you have a much more flexible schedule than the corporate day job users but this can also hamper with your personal life and other high priority activities like family time that is being stripped away from.

Curiosity kills the cat

In the Web 2.0 world users sometimes have a serious condition called the “Vain User”.

The “VAIN USER” likes to constantly have reassurance and monitor themselves at all time. 

• They check to see if any one has commented on their blog or social networks.

This feeling of the need to monitor themselves can disrupt their work time and being productive.  I understand the curiosity if any one has commented on one of your remarks you made on Twitter or Facebook but do it efficiently.  Just like with any other addiction you have to make sure your habit or hobby doesn’t consume you to a point where you are losing sleep, job production and other high priorities in your life.

Below I have found some great Tools, Apps & Tips to help you use your Social Media Time more wisely.

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Tools to help use Social Media effiencently

Twitter Mail [http://twittermail.com/] – Twittermail is a highly popular sight that help reduces the “Visiting Twitters Site” addiction.  Twittermail lets you e-mail your Tweets on any e-mail account and also has the ability to receive e-mail updates on any replies you receive on Twitter.

I actually do use Twittermail quite a bit when I am work because it prevents me from seeing other users on Twitter updates which can lead me into responding to them or just getting grossly involved in viewing Tweets that can make time fly and ultimately hurt your work performance.  The added e-mail update from Twittermail also helps with your Twitter Vain status of constantly needing to know if someone has replied to you yet.  Check it out.

Brightkit / HootSuite [http://hootsuite.com/] – Brighkit was the previous name of HootSuite which not to be mistaken of Brightkite.  HootSuite is also another Twitter Favorite who even Guy Kawasaki even uses.  HootSuite is a website most notably known for the multiple account and future Tweet website.

I use Brightkit when I may not have time to Tweet lets say tomorrow and want to still get my Tweets out.  I can schedule future Tweets by picking a Date and Time and also my Tweet message.  This can become very handy when you have a busy schedule and can’t focus on Tweeting.  Finally the Multiple Account feature is great to also manage more than one Twitter account.  For example I have a business and personal account.  

Digsby [http://www.digsby.com/] – Digsby is a great Software Application for your computer that helps organize all your Instant Messages, E-mails and Social Networks in one.  Digsby has a great concept but in the beginning they did had some flaws with memory leaks and errors but the new version of Digsby is excellent and I am sure with the future version they will only improve.  If you haven’t checked out my detailed review about this App yet, check it out here.

Ping.Fm & Friend Feed [http://ping.fm/ & http://friendfeed.com/] – Ping.fm and Friendfeed ultimately helps you update all your Social Networks all at once, thus helping you reduce time in logging in different sites.

Ping.fm is a stright forward and bottom line updater for all your Social Networks focused on getting your information out to everywhere.

Friendfeed is just like Ping.fm but also focuses on what your friends are doing and discovering.

I highly suggest checking out both as they are both valuable time savers.

Mobile Text – Texting should be the lifeblood of time savers which is by far the easiest to do and can be less cumbersome if done correctly.  Updating your social networks via Text gives you the flexibility of not being engrossed with other content out there if you text on the fly.  Texting can lead to addiction still if you use Web Enabled phones like the Iphone where even though you are still texting your updates you can see your friend’s Twitter updates too just like you would normally do on a home computer, so be careful.

Tips to help use Social Media effiencently

Twitter Break – Web Strategist Jeremiah Owyang has been the biggest advocate of preaching to all about taking a Twitter Break.  Twitter is a great Micro Blog service that helps connect networking, communication and business but just like any other social network platform out there if used too much can be an unhealthy habit of addiction.

Jeremiah in his blog post here shows that sometimes you must put the “Twitter” down and step away from it all and evaluate your priorities from an outside perspective without Twitter involved.  Taking a break does not mean you will stop using Social Media entirely, it just gives you time to re-evaluate your schedule and habit and make minor tweaks if necessary.  This comes highly recommended.

Schedule – Just like with any activity you want to try to incorporate into your life you might want to develop a strict schedule you can base your hobby/habit into.  I know some Twitter users won’t Tweet during work and only Tweet at night from 5-6pm.  Others have been known to only Tweet on the Weekends and others only check their Facebook profiles on Mondays, whatever your preference may be just make sure to stick with your scheduled plan.  The moment you start getting sloppy and taking over your normal schedule is the moment you take the Twitter Break step and re-evaluate.

Priortize – Now to put all the pieces together you have to come up with a game-plan in finding out your highest priorities and working your Social Media time around this, you don’t want to make Social Media your utmost priority when it really isn’t. For instance most users say that “Family comes first” and that’s great you should have time devoted to your family activities and never make Social Media take away from your family time.  Others may be work and that’s fine too never get too involved in Social Media where it prevents you from making your living and paying your bills, if you can’t pay your bills then how can you use Social Media if you can’t get on the net?

In conclusion whether you need to take a Twitter Break, Re-Schedule or Re-Prioritize, do what you got to do in order to have a healthy Social Media habit.  Social Media is great and should not treated like a bad thing but as with anything that consumes you too much or overpowers you, it can be an unhealthy habit.  Use your time wisely and Have fun!!

Post from: Social Media Vision

Being Productive In Social Media and Using Time Wisely

Power Twitter 1.0 Review

New Firefox Addon Power Twitter just released a new version 1.o that is making headlines all over the Twittersphere lately.

Narendra Rocherolle over at 83 Degrees created this Firefox Addon found here.  (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/9591)

This new Addon allows Twitter users to use some strong features within Twitter to become more of a Power User for Twitter.  Most recent famous Twitter Stars that associated with Power Twitter were Techcrunch, Problogger and Twitter founder Biz seen below.

The Hype

The Features

1.  Twitter Search Improved

Power Twitter enables a better call-to-action with the new location of the Twitter’s Search feature.  Not only is the main search feature moved to the sidebar but also you can search within a Twitter user’s specific timeline if you click on their profile.  This is a great feature that makes searching for content more accessible.

2.  Tweet History 

With Power Twitter installed you can now mouse-over a user’s profile picture in your Twitter stream to showcase a Tweet History of that user.  This is really effective feature because you can now keep track better of previous Tweets from your favorite Twitter friends.  I find this extremely necessary when you have more than 300 friends to follow.  This option may not be as organized as Tweetdeck’s group feature but still does the trick in keeping up with your priority friends on Twitter so you won’t feel guilty in missing a Tweet.

3.  Facebook Status Updates

This is a cool new feature where you can see your friends on Facebook status updates.  You can’t really respond or update your own Facebook status with this new tab in your sidebar but does keep you in the loop with your Facebook updates which might be handy.

4.  Embedded Pictures and Videos

Now this feature is really handy because now your Twitter stream will show you the Videos and Pictures that are linked on Twitter now instead of seeing the shorten URLS.  You maybe familiar with this type of set-up with Facebook wall posts that show you the automatic pictures and videos embedded in the profile.

5.  URL Improvement

URL’s are now showing the URL titles instead of the shrink URL links.  This removes the masking of the shorten urls so you might get  better picture in what you are clicking to.

6. Reply Feature Improved

If you ever used Tweetdeck, you may of noticed you pick up better detailed Reply messages in the client than the web browser.  The reason behind this is due to that Tweetdeck scans for all @(your username) regardless at the beginning, middle or end.  The web browser only shows the @ replies that only begin with your username, not showcasing Retweets or other conversation elements.

7. Web Browser Tool

Finally another feature of the Power Twitter is that this is just an add-on to your current Firefox web browser.  This is not a software client you need to download and install.  Some people may not like software clients and thus is why you may want to choose Power Twitter.  Another reason why web based is a good option is because many corporate computers will not let you download any software but will let you install addons to current software like Firefox.

The Complaints

With any new up and coming Twitter Power Apps there will be complaints and cons.  Below are a couple I have found.

*Multi-Platforms

Power Twitter is only made for Firefox toolbar and is missing support for Mobile, Mac & other web browser users.  They are missing a huge opportunity here.

*Options Menu missing

Power Twitter needs to have an options menu to configure because I sometimes want certain features like the URL expansion disabled or the Video/Picture removed.  People like Twitter because its very clean and having the Videos and Pictures keep auto-populating in the Twitterstream can clutter and slow down immensely.  Also with with the URL expansions, I would like to sometimes ReTweet with the shorten url attached but when you copy in Power Twitter mode you get the title formation instead.  Very, very aggrovating.

*Software Client Option 

This is simple.  Have an option of transferring these features to a software application like Tweetdeck.  Some users hate using the browser to Tweet.

*Extremely Laggy

Last but not least, Power Twitter has very delayed load times when loading the Power Twitter features on every refresh and new page on Twitter within the browser.  This may improve in the future or may not.   As of right now this is considered a slight hassle because the load time is not huge but is noticeable.

So there you have it, the Pros & Cons of the Power Twitter Tool.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Becoming A Power Twitter User With New Firefox Addon Power Twitter

Online Branding

What is an Online Brand? A Brand is the association connected to product, service or person and an Online Brand is taking that same establishment but developing it for the Online world.

Branding is a way to be remembered and have impact upon perception.  It’s also another way to claim separate identities and claim ownership.  The best example of this is back in the day Cowboys would brand their herd with their own signature trademarks to claim as property and to establish from the rest of the packs out there.

So why would you need an online brand?  Well it’s quite simple you need to..

• Establish your Online Identity
• Set yourself apart
• Claim ownership of your Identity
• Build awareness and recognition
• Exposure

To get started in your online presence and branding the easiest way to begin is to claim your online identity first

Hey Zero Cool what is your handle?

You may of noticed with my Blog image header that its a picture from the movie Hackers.  Most notable was the Online Handle “Zero Cool” from the movie.

Hackers for example have a way of standing out or becoming known in the online world by their calling name or Online Handle.   An Online Handle is a username/nickname or online username that is used when referring to oneself other than their real name.

AOL is another big hit example where Screen Names took off and once again pushed online users to develop an online id other than their real names.  Screen Names took off with unique handles too during the Punter & Prog Age in claiming online territories.

Blogs, Social Media and Social Networks like Twitter all require a Username of some sort and by now more than likely you have a couple user names floating out there.  

The best way to develop a nice and consistent online branding is to have a conisstent user name throughout your Social Media sites out there.

Below is an Online Tool to check your Username throughout all Social Media websites.

Usernamecheck.com

Website usernamecheck.com is a simple site that searches over 65+ different Social Media websites out there to see if your online username has been taken or is available for use.

This is a great tool to seize the opportunity in shutting out your competition or claiming your online identity ownership.  After setting up your profiles in these Social Media websites, I would suggest in also staking your claims below

• E-Mail domains like Gmail, Yahoo & MSN
• Gamer Profiles like Second Life, MMORPGS
• Instant Message clients like AIM

Be creative –  Be unique.  You will find that it will be harder to claim ownership in online profiles if its a very common name and it will important more than ever to claim ownership early.

So go out there, develop an online identity and stake your claim in the digital world.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Social Media Online Branding & Establishing Presence With An Online Identity

What is Miissenger

Calling out all Wii Heads, now there is a place where Wii gamers can have a Social Networking platform for their Mii Avatars.

A Wii Mii Avatar is the 3d image of your online game user profile.  There are millions of customization for your Mii Avatar.

Missenger’s Statement is 

“Miissenger is social networking website offering Wii admirers an user-friendly place to exchange Wii codes. By adding your friends’ Wii codes to your Wii address book you will enable your Mii’s ability to ‘mingle’. You and your friends’ Miis will be able to visit each other’s Mii Plazas and form Mii Parades.”

SMV Review

Missenger is a great hot new idea where fellow Mii users can interact and have an online community to share and network.  Tons of new Mii are added on a daily basis.

Expect this simple concept to take off with the ever so-popular Wii console.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Mii’s New Social Networking Site For Wii Gamers

ShareThis Announces Upgrade

I received an e-mail yesterday announcing a recent change with the ShareThis plugin.  

ShareThis is the self proclaimed next next generation of sharing technology.   If you notice on each of my blog posts and many other blog posts out there, you will see a green button that can be expanded by clicking on it to show a plethora of Social Media networks and content to share online.

Before, when expanding the menu of Social Media content, you sometimes felt a lag or a bit of delay.  Now, ShareThis has just completed a fully optimized redesign in making the plugin lightning fast with a click.  The new design has cut down the load time without sacrificing any of the benefits and automatic updates.

As you can see I personally love Sharethis plugin as it’s a simple and easy plugin that accommodates my needs in having a great platform to share in Social Media.  The ShareThis plugin is very customizable and has post & e-mail options along with the social web options.  The ShareThis team is constantly adding in new social web links and most notably they just added my favorite social bookmark, Sphinn.

By the way….

The team over at ShareThis has been chosen as Mashable’s Open Web Award winner for the Blogger’s Choice and People’s Choice Awards in the Blog Plugins category.   Talk about perfect timing, Congrats to the ShareThis team!  You guys well deserve these 2 amazing rewards and I am looking forward to the new changes in the future.

Post from: Social Media Vision

ShareThis Optimizes Lightning Quick

What is a Twitter SeeSaw

A Twitter SeeSaw is when you have a lop-side count of either Following or Followers.  This affect tends to happen due to these four stages.

1. Twitter Rockstar
2. Twitter Peoples Champ
3. Twitter Spam Follow
4. Twitter Snob

The most known Twitter SeeSaw reason is the Twitter RockStars or the Twitter Celebrities.  The most notorious Twitter Celeb right now besides Barack Obama is Kevin Rose; founder of Digg.com.

As you can see Kevin has a high Follower count compared to his Following count.  Now I don’t know 100% why Kevin chose not to follow people back but most famous Twitter profiles choose not to follow back due to a high demand of people following them. 

The Twitter People’s Champ is when you have a good balance ratio of Followers and Following.  Most famous example of this scenario is Guy kawasaki; Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures.  Guy exemplifies fantastic Twitter Balance and Recriprocation.  His ratio is almost a dead even 50/50 ratio with room to spare of not following Spammers.  This status shows Follow-back love and openness to interaction.

This Stage is the very best stage to have on Twitter due to the power of connection and engagement of Social Media.  This is what Social Media is all about, without interaction then it’s like just reading the news on a website with no social interaction.  This stage is highly encouraged to practice and will reap the best rewards.  This does not mean follow back everyone who follows you, still weed out the scammers, spammers and fake profiles to maximize effectiveness.

The Twitter Spam Follow is a no brainer where they become lopsided in trying to follow as many Twitter accounts as possible in trying to gain a follow back.  Twitter had recently put a cap on the follow limit you could have in a short time frame without having a the same number of follow backs; 2,000 is the ceiling limit.  Now the Spammer have found a way around this by doing a mass follow, relying on Twitter to notify you by e-mail that you have a new follower, the spammer will then mass remove follow to stay under the 2,000 limit.

The Twitter Snob stage goes hand in hand with the Twitter Rockstar.  You may not be a Twitter Rockstar but you may have more Followers than Following.  This is due to the reason because you don’t want to clutter your Twitter stream with an overload of Tweets of people you may not know too well so therefore you a become very selective in choosing who to follow so your Twitter stream will always be filled with the Tweets you want to see.

You may not want to clutter your Twitter stream but there are better reason whys to have a great follow back ratio.  The main reason is due to the power of utilizing Social Media effectively. Another reason is because you can still have a clean Twitter stream by using great Twitter tools to organize groups where you can focus on the ones you want without sacrificing your Following.  

My suggestion would be to use TweetDeck when your on a personal computer and an application like Tiny Twitter for your Mobile connection.  Both Applications are very good in organizing your points of focus so that way you can still keep track of your main Followers while still keeping tabs of the Twitter world.

TweetDeck is great because you can create a group where you can follow only the Twitter people you want to follow and organization is key which should solve the problem of the Twitter RockStar and Twitter Snob.

Post from: Social Media Vision

The 4 Stages Of The Twitter SeeSaw

Social Media Tools

Freelance Folder is a multi-authored blog dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and freelancers, just posted a blog post compiling over 35+ Social Media Tools that helps save you time online.

Let’s face it we can rather spend more time with our business, family and friends rather than time consuming applications or websites that seem very tedious or time consuming.

This is an excellent list to check out and notice the trend with Twitter Apps seems like Twitter is becoming the Rock Star of the year.

Credit: Freelance Folder

Website: http://freelancefolder.com/35-social-media-tools-make-life-easier/

Post from: Social Media Vision

Social Media Tools Compilation Saves Time

http://www.digsby.com/

With all the new Social Networks and Media out there its very hard to keep up with them all and let alone keep up with your current lives.  Digsby is a great too to multitask all your options in one client.

Disby combines your E-mail, Instant Messenging and Social Networks all in one client.  They just recently added Linkedin and are in the process of adding more applications very soon.  I would love to see if Digsby can capture the essence of Tweetdeck used for Twitter.

Tweetdeck is the best client so far for Twitter because of the “grouping columns” that Twitter fails to have implemented yet and left stuck with #hashtags.

Overall Digsby has done some great changes, the major issues have always been memory resource.  This seems to be the #1 issue to be resolved in most clients and applications out there.  Check out the new build here http://blog.digsby.com/archives/category/releases

The verdict on Digsby is that it combines all your great Networks, IM’s and E-mail into one client freeing up less haggle time.  Time is money and who doesn’t want to save time? 

What do you think?

Post from: Social Media Vision

Digsby the Social Media Networking tool. Build 32.