Posts Tagged ‘social networking’

Twitter has been giving my @jesseluna account the cold shoulder, not displaying tweets from others for over 8 hours. It’s 9:09AM Pacific Time and the last tweet update was at 35 minutes after midnight.

Apparently I’m not the only as The Next Web reports that many accounts have been affected. TheTwitter blog has not posted any information on this freeze out yet.

I can see Replies and tweets that use hashtags that I follow but that’s it. The Next Web also points out that you can see updated tweets using the Twitter Lists feature.

Hopefully Twitter can patch things up soon. Until this gets resolved, I’ll focus on conversing (not just reading posts or retweeting) then probably head over to Facebook to see what’s going on in the world.

Did your account freeze up? Did you jump to another social networking site? If so, which one?

2009 was full of twists and turns. Big deals, big plays, and big hearts, on all fronts. These are my predictions for 2010.

1) Users learn to own their stuff
As we continue to see companies like Twitter and Facebook grow like crazy and start monetizing at every step, we’re going to realize that they are growing because of OUR content. Are you leveraging your own content, whether for business use, charity, or for you own personal purposes?

2) Twitter will become the number one news service
Users will organize to be the first to cover global news and be able to bubble that information up so that emergency, government, and traditional news outlets can jump on the news faster.

3) Augmented Reality marketing is going to be HUGE
Augmented Reality is a relatively new technology for displaying image content and tools in a live context. For example, Yelp, a restaurant/hotel rating site, allows you to use your smart phone to look through its camera and see an overlay of ratings information tied to your current location. The video below has an example of me using Yelp in my small town of Santa Paula, CA.

4) CEO’s from Fortune 500 companies will start to get fired for not having a strong social media strategy.
We saw this in 1997 when some slow executives decided to “wait out” this whole Internet thing.

5) Spiritual networks will become prominent and widespread
There are many folks who don’t prescribe to a particular religion but are extremely spiritual. These networks will do things like support the ill, be activist for social causes, and push for legislation (whether progressive or conservative). Take a look at spiritjump.org (@spiritjump on Twitter) as an example of it’s potential.

6) In the boxing world, Manny Pacquiao will beat Floyd Mayweather in a close split decision.

7) In politics, Immigration Reform takes center stage and the associated hoopla makes health care reform look like a cake walk. By the end of it, tens of thousands of awesome and deserving students will be on the road to conditional permanent residency.

8) The top 5 “TV” shows will be primarily seen via computer screens.

9) Video bloggers from different disciplines are going to crush it in 2010 and people will be talking about movie deals, instead of book deals.

10) One or more of my videos will hit one million views on YouTube and I’ll get a cameo role on someone’s rock video.

I recently had “the Twitter talk” with the CEO of a high tech B2B company. His one main question was, “Will Twitter help us make money?”

My response was that B2B companies should not look to Twitter as a way to sell widgets, but to view it as a trade show.

At a trade show:

1. Conversations and actions are focused on building relationships
2. Outcomes are evaluated on a long-term basis, not a quick hit
3. Strong partnerships are the greatest financial reward. In the CEO’s business, a new vendor can mean millions in sales per year
4. It’s a great place to share the company’s brand and personality
5. To get the most out of a show, you have to engage participants or you will get lost in the crowd

So there is a reward at the end of the Twitter rainbow for B2B companies. But it takes time, work, and a decent strategy.

Oh, and don’t forget the swag.

If you’re using Twitter, there’s a good chance that you’re a member of one of these four twiques. You may not completely identify with any one of these twiques, but it’s like the school cafeteria, eventually you have to choose your own space and there will be others doing the same thing.

ONE. Information Junkie – Many Twitter users log in to tweet about news, excellent blog posts, or re-post other tweets via retweets.

Who they follow
These users are more likely to follow news feeds like @BreakingNews or local news accounts, news personalities, print media figures, and Twitterati (Twitter insiders or “influentials”).

You may be an Information Junkie if:
a) You retweet every major news item in CAPS.
b) One of your tweets has shown up on a live CNN segment with @ricksanchezcnn
c) The only pictures on your blog are of books, fountain pens, or David Allen.

TWO. Fanboys/Fangirls – Yes, celebrities are making their way onto Twitter by the droves and many love to support them.

Who they follow
That’s an easy one, they follow every celebrity they can identify. From one-hit wonders to Internet phenoms, to solid gold actors.

You may be a Fanboy/Fangirl if:
a) You’ve commented on every single @mrskutcher Twitpic
b) You’ve watched at least a dozen TV shows because the star asked you to tune in via a tweet
c) You still think @ijustine will reply to you some day.

THREE. Funny Bunnies – Some tweet peeps use Twitter to hone their comedic writing. This “sub-culture” is chock full of characters (usually Rated R) and they keep score using the site Favrd which keeps track of tweets that have been Favorited.

Who they follow
Funny tweeters usually only follow other funny tweeters. The main reason for this is that in order to score points on Favrd, their peeps have to know about Favrd and be registered on the site. The other reason is that many of the funny tweets are R-rated so they tend to offend non-Funny Bunnies.

You may be a Funny Bunny if:
a) You regularly chronicle four or more bodily functions
b) Make three or more people spit their coffee out every morning
c) You hand out more gold stars than a kindergarten teacher.

FOUR. The Conversationalist – Many people are on Twitter to meet other people and engage in community building. Some, like The Conversationalist, live on Twitter. Tensions may arise if a Conversationalist expects one of the other personalities to do the same.

Who they follow:
They will follow everyone who is engaged in real conversations and will follow folks from all other Twitter types hoping they will chat back.

You may be a Conversationalist if:
a) Your last 200 tweets are all Replies
b) You converse with people via Blips at 1AM.
c) You’ve wished over 50 people a happy birthday in the last month.

So there you have it, four very different Twitter cliques or “twiques”.

Which twique are you in?

The revolutionary part of social media is that it takes offline ways of doing business – networking, one-on-one communication, relationship building – and offers an online way of building and fostering them.

This is a fundamental shift in the way companies sell and market online.

In this new sales and marketing world, “leads” and “eyeballs” will now be seen as “people” and “fans”.

The only way social media will go away is the way the “e” fell off of “e-business.” Social media will be folded into the way all companies conduct business.

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