The Edgy Entrepreneur

Twitter and the Fakey Follower Resistance

I am absolutely over what I have come to call "Fakey Follower Syndrome" (FFS for short). This Twitter phenomenon has a couple of symptoms that are most notable, but I have no doubt there are hundreds of variations on the theme.

The first is the "I'm a spammer pretending to be a real person following you". Which in theory may not seem like a big deal...but if you get 200 followers in a week and 100 of them are these zero value add accounts that do nothing but push irritating marketing messages, it's a huge pain. Here's why: in order to find the 50% that are really cool people that I want to follow, I have to check each and every follower to see if they are "genuine". This was not made easier by Twitter's redesign of the followers page, which now shows the latest tweet but not the profile bio.

The second really irritating and ridiculous symptom of FFS is the "Thanks for the #followfriday love" scheme. This is when a spammy follower thanks you for a #FF recommendation that you never made, making it look like you endorse him/her. A variation of the #FF scheme is sending @ replies to Tweeple with high follower counts and street cred, hoping that whomever reads their stream will see it and think they are a big deal.

I think Twitter does its best to address spammers...and admittedly, I don't have a magic wand that will make this all better. So, I decided to tweet about it with my real followers...here's how it all got started:

@jeanannvk: OK srsly people, stop with the shovey marketing accounts. Uninteresting and uninspiring. Provide some value, will ya?

@jeanannvk: And, I have had it with the fakey follow fridays. Don't use my name to get followers. And DON'T thank me for a FF I didn't send out. WTH?

@jeanannvk: I mean, is this kind of mucking up the info stream going to happen to FB, now that it is relatively open? Sigh...

At this point, I receive several cheers from the crowd. Here's a small sampling:

dianamarie@JeanAnnVK I get those thank yous too. WTF?

CanarsieBK@JeanAnnVK Get it all off your chest girl. Don't hold back. I do wholely agree with you though. Is that even a word?

jswo@JeanAnnVK I kind of hate Follow Fridays now. It's such a stream clogger and it's so abused.

KayBallard@JeanAnnVK Yay! I skipped twitter yesterday (mostly) because of dratted FF. I even get recommended by people who don't follow me??? LOL

In frustration, I suggest "we the people" should take back Twitter from the spammers/scammers:

@Suburban_Farmer @sporkdork @CathyBrowne Let's stage a Twitter rebellion. Join the Fakey Followers Resistance!

@CathyBrowne @Suburban_Farmer @MelissaJBond LOVE IT...I smell a movement underway #Fakeyfollowersresistance

Yeah, I am feeling a full on groundswell against the constant spam attacks, organizing a movement #fakeyfollowersresistance

This spurs much discussion about if this would be an effective tactic...and what else might work.

tomob@JeanAnnVK the protocol is to call them out with the #unfollow hashtag

infoholic@JeanAnnVK But what will a retweet campaign and setting hashtag do?

infoholic@JeanAnnVK Unfortunately I don't think it will work. We all have good spam filters and but still have spam. Here's why: http://is.gd/1DAtP

infoholic@JeanAnnVK One way to solve the problem is for Twitter to allow key-word, auto follow to paid premium accounts. This puts a cost on spamming

infoholic@JeanAnnVK While ever the cost of spamming twitter (twamming?) accounts is free it will be done. That's why we get so much email spam.

We chat back and forth about it...and ultimately, I am left without a real answer to my problem. I know that I can no longer deal with the volume of spam accounts that show up in my follower listings. Quite possibly out of shear frustration, I decide to do this:

@JohnnyLion OK dude, I am not interested in helping you build your follower base. #fakeyfollowersresistance

and this:

@davidwtrs dude, you are a perfect justification for an anti-spam feature on Twitter #fakeyfollowersresistance #spam

And I am going to start blocking the really offensive spam accounts instead of just ignoring them. I guess I am hopeful that Twitter will notice how many times an account is blocked and investigate.

The bottom line is that I am going to do something, even if it is wrong...because it just feels better than doing nothing. If you want to join me, start @ replying and blocking these people. And use the  #fakeyfollowersresistance tag so that we can all identify these scoundrels and take action, too. I acknowledge that deciding todo this by myself may have a small impact, but if we all identify even one or two fakey followers a week, we could at least be a pain in the ass.

Oh, and one more thing...people, turn off your auto follows. It just creates the perfect breeding conditions, and we don't need more of these pests.

Photos by DuesXFlorida

And AdobeMac

Skype: A Love Hate Relationship

I have a very passionate relationship with my steady eddie: Skype. I am an absolute fanatic, use it as my primary business phone, have access to it on my Blackberry with iSkoot, record our podcasts via Skype and it's recording counterpart, Pamela, and evangelize (and sometimes shame) people into using it for chats and calls. And while it is outstanding when everything is working correctly, when something goes wrong, it is a nightmare to figure out how to fix it. 

I suppose I should back up and say that Skype is a free service that allows users to chat (IM and Video), as well as make phone calls to other Skype users over the internet. The conversations can have 24 participants, or some crazy high number like that. Skype also has premium services, which are really affordable. I have two premiums, one is an unlimited number of calls from Skype to cell and landlines, the other is an assigned phone number that lets outside cells and landlines call my computer.

Though I do have occasional problems with call quality (reverb, cutting out), those generally straighten out in a few days. The larger problem is when something happens that directly impacts my business. Right now, everytime someone tries to call my Skype number, they are immediately sent to voice mail (did I mention I have voice mail, too?). Today, I discovered that I couldn't add an incoming call to a chat I had already started...something that I had been able to do prior to now.

The help pages on Skypes site are of almost of no use...talk about user unfriendly, they simply don't search well. So, I know when there is a problem, I am on my own or I have to be prepared to wait 3-4 days for a return email from customer service. When your customers can't reach you, 3-4 days is a lifetime.

I know that Skype is continuing to work on upgrading its services...and now that Oprah is using Skype on her show regularly, I suspect they are having their own Twitter-fail whale-esque overload. And, yeah, I will stick with them, like I have with my past love, Twitter. But it doesn't do me any good to have all of these great options, then not be able to access them.

Skype, if you are listening, you have one foot in the dog house. Better come home tonight with flowers and chocolates...and champagne!

Twitter in Context, TweetTree

One of the biggest challenges with Twitter, especially for new users, is the never ending flow of information. So far, attempts to make sense of this barrage have been via applications that segment discussions and friend groups. Both Tweetdeck and Seesmic do an admirable job of creating group structures that give the user an opportunity to focus on specific people or topics. Really, I think the  potential of Twitter isn't realized until someone grabs a hold of an app like Tweetdeck and starts experimenting.

But what hasn't been available to date, is an app that will create context and relevancy for ongoing conversations. Essentially, a tweet stream is very linear...chronological postings of tweets, one after the other. This can make it a big challenge to follow a conversation, yours or anyone else's. Hell, there are times when I get a delayed response and I have no memory of what we were discussing. In order to avoid serious flakiness, I have to go back and dig through hundreds of tweets to find the original thread.

Enter TweetTree. This site allows Twitter users to enter in their id and password and see a version of the stream that has conversations located in proximity to each other. Put simply, if you are tweeting with someone, you can see what you said, then what they said right next to it. And, you can see what your friends are talking about with their friends in the same format. Such a simple thing, but the difference it makes in readability is huge.

The other fantastic thing that TweetTree does is that it creates a feed that looks a lot like something you would see in Google Reader out of your Twitter stream. Links, photos and videos show up right in the stream, no need to click over and leave the page. Talk about adding dimensionality...it's like suddenly seeing Twitter in 3-D!

I think TweetTree has a lot of potential...though it is not in a place where I could use it as my sole Twitter client. As much as I like the 3-D experience, I still follow way too many people to not use an application that corrals them into segments. However, I definintely love this site as an ancillary to what I am already doing. The depth of information is fantastic.

This application could certainly be used to enhance individual user's experiences. But, it is also a great market research tool. The depth of information gathered, combined with the efficiency of it being in one location is really amazing. I am certain TweetTree will have all kinds of applications that haven't been discovered yet.

I would love to know if you are using TweetTree. If so, how?

The Seesmic Twitter Client: There's a New Sheriff in Town

I have long been an avid supporter of TweetDeck, particularly when it comes to its uses for marketing online...maybe even more than avid (is there such a thing?). Which is why it grieves me to say that Seesmic Desktop is just short of kicking some serious TweetDeck butt.

If you have used the Twitter client, Twirl, then you are already familiar with Seesmic.  My difficulty with Twirl was that it was too small and didn't afford me near the versatility I needed to search Twitter. This new incarnation is both a Twitter and Facebook app that let's you manage multiple Twitter accounts, as well as your Facebook profile.

Here's the skinny on features:

• post to and follow multiple twitter accounts from one desktop application
• Facebook integration for posting status updates and following friends updates
• groupings of friends, even across multiple twitter accounts
• all searches and groupings are saved, they aren't deleted when you close the column
• post pictures and web cam shots via drag and drop in the update box

Right now, this service is in its infancy, so it has bugs to work out. And, it will have to address the black hole of memory loss that TweetDeck had to face in the beginning, too. But Seesmic is responding to the demands of Twitter and Facebook users everywhere. And the primary complaints are lack of flexibility...we are no longer satisfied with having to log in and out of all of our accounts to post, contact friends and reply to messages. Not to mention that we can't keep track of anybody without a grouping feature.

Essentially, Seesmic is attempting something that neither Twitter nor Facebook have been able to do very successfully...and that is build a grouping system that would allow for cross-platform connectivity. Twitter and Facebook couldn't do it because they were so focused on keeping their platforms proprietary, they didn't listen to their customers begging for this kind of functionality. And though Twitter has had an open API and Facebook has taken recent steps in the right direction, it still is not far enough.

Maybe it will have to be a third party like Seesmic, that builds a management system to corral our social media platforms. Truthfully, I have been less than excited by Facebook and Google's attempts at connecting people across sites. This could be the best approach, sort of like an Outlook for social media...gather all of your accounts and contacts into one location and organize them all, then transfer to your handheld device for mobile conversations.

We will have to stay tuned to see where Seesmic takes its Twitter/Facebook application. For now, I am using both TweetDeck and Seesmic...but I can forsee a day where the balance will tip in favor of that rascally racoon...

Rebel Against Twitter Rules: Do What Works for You!

We Tweeple are overly fascinated with Twitter...not that Twitter isn't a good online marketing tool, it is. But we tend to talk about it like there are clearly defined rules for its use and that there is only one effective brand building strategy. There are multiple ways to use Twitter, at least as many ways as there are micro-cultures on this micro-blog.

I agree that understanding a site's etiquette will help you build networks and generate quite a lot of good will. But to limit our usage strategy to a relationship-intensive model of engagement is to reserve Twitter only for the people who have an abundance of time on their hands or specialize in online marketing. Deciding what role Twitter, or other time-intensive platforms, plays in your online marketing strategy is your first step to developing a workable plan.

Let's take a look at few different uses for Twitter, all of which I have seen used successfully to market a product or service.

• Traditional Twitter: This user builds out a solid profile, consciously searches out like-minded people, and is a somewhat finicky follower. Each tweet is informative, meaningful or funny. This user spends time connecting via online or in person tweet ups and reaches out through genuine responses. This person has no idea when someone stops following...nor do they care.
• Marketing Twitter: This user builds a highly searchable profile bio, then checks their search results on Twitter Grader to find out if they are visible to their target audience.  This tweeter uses auto-follow, auto-thanks and auto-notify when someone stops following. Messaging is more traditional "push" content with high repetitive volume.
• Link Builder Twitter:  This user connects Twitter to an automated updating platform and posts multiple links to various posts, pictures and video about their product or service. By also connecting Twitter to FriendFeed, they are able to get double the link building bang for the buck. They may or may not have a lot of followers. If they do, chances are high that they have a pre-arrangement that allows them to automatically post updates to their followers accounts or they have agreed to RT (retweet) all pertinent tweets.
• SEO Twitter: This user has the latest version of Tweetdeck and has maxed out its global search function. Their bio contains keywords, their posts contain the same keywords and their search is based on those keywords. The result is a highly topical network or multiple topical groups with one network that can also be monitored through Tweetdeck. They also have a blog and/or website built around the same keywords, using the same messages.

  None of these Tweeters are following the same strategy, yet each of them has found a way to utilize this marketing channel to their advantage. Most of us move back and forth between all of these functions at some point.  The critical issue is to do so intentionally and because you feel it is a good fit for your resources and your overall marketing strategy.

  If you want to know which strategies I use, you will have to follow me ( @JeanAnnVK ) on Twitter to find out!

Conversation Monitoring and Engagement on Twitter

Though we have some fairly sophisticated tools for monitoring conversations on Twitter, I haven't really seen people digging into these platforms and maximizing their benefit. And, it may be that there are so many that it is difficult to know which application should be used for what. One way to make that determination is to know what your objectives are before you search through the options.

Today, I am thinking about conversation monitoring and engagement. There are multiple clients that will show you your friends' feeds, replies and dm's. TweetDeck also let's you track global searches and has a panel for TwitScoop.

And Twitscoop has a feature that is exactly what I need.

The first thing you will see is a topic cloud with a list of keywords. Now, if you need information about something that is happening right in the moment, this is the place to be. Trending topics can be about most anything, including earthquakes, presidential elections, and, as evident from this picture, Hondas.

Most of my communication is more specific, and not generally a current events topic. That makes this page front page less helpful for me. I suspect that most people have this problem, so they abandon the whole application without delving in a bit further.

But, on the right hand side of the page, there is a search box. You can put in any topic of interest to you and search to see who's saying what and when. I entered the word "gardening" and these are the results.
The first thing you see on this page is a graph displaying the past 6 hours of conversation involving this term. You can also switch views to see the past day or three days. Below that, there is a list of who is tweeting what and when.

This is great information on a couple of levels. One, you can follow and engage like-minded people which is always a great strategy for online business development. Two, you can use this to verify and modify your current list of keywords. And three, you can use this to identify when the conversation is occurring.

It is the third option that gives you an opportunity to engage in a real-time conversation about your topic. Whether this means joining in and commenting on someone else's tweets or starting a rousing discussion of your own, using this feature allows you to teleport in to the precise moment when a potential customer is open to conversation.

Clearly, if you swoop in and shove a marketing message at them, they will be less than pleased. But, if you offer pertinent, helpful information, they might a) start following you, b) ask for a resource or c) think you are incredibly clever. After a while, this kind of engagement leads to referrals and market pull. Tweeple recommend that others follow you. They send you questions asking about their challenges. The start to become a part of the community that surrounds your business. And that is a great way to build loyal customers.

Consider using a conversation monitoring tool to increase the effectiveness of your engagement. If you have tried it already, I would love to hear about your experiences...

Twitter, Monitoring Your Follows and Follow Spammers

This is the second half of a conversation that I posted about yesterday (Twitter and Automated Thank You's). We started talking about people who follow and unfollow...and just how much attention you should pay to followers anyway.

I regularly send out PSA's on Twitter, offering tips on how to join the community in a genuine way. We are a supportive lot...but not very tolerant of overt marketing and definitely not tolerant of spam. (For additional info on Twitter use for newbies and Twitiquette, check the Twitter category for previous posts.) Recently, there has been a rash of "follow spammers" or people who follow thousands of tweeps, waiting for them to follow back...then unfollowing. Which ultimately leaves tweeps with a one way stream of spam. Yuck.

We had a great conversation about this and about whether or not to use automated responses and "thank you for following" on Twitter...here's how it went:

@jeanannvk would you ask them why they unfollowed? Isn't it hard to know what to attribute unfollows to? could be a ton of reasons.

mariana_66 @JeanAnnVK do you know about Qwitter? It tracks unfollowers. WTTW: it is not always consistent. Useful tool, though. Gets my attention!

nwjerseyliz @JeanAnnVK Well, Twitter sends me notices when someone follows & Qwitter sends me notices when someone unfollows.Sometimes both in same day!

nwjerseyliz @JeanAnnVK A few times, I found those who unfollow are interesting & I've started following them after they quit me! Go figure.

mariana_66 @JeanAnnVK Qwitter CAN tell you lots of things: to whom you are relevant, to whom you might be offensive. Tells u which tweet did it!

bberrymom @JeanAnnVK Use twitterlicious to get notififed about an "un-follow". Not pleasant news, but @ least you know whose listening to you!

SharonMcP @JeanAnnVK I use Qwitter. I like knowing who unfollows me, cuz if they were someone that I had not had any "relationship" with, I unfollow

bizymom @JeanAnnVK I don't even pay attention to who and how many unfollow.

catarinarose @JeanAnnVK So true, my friend. Followers: I block at least 60% of them. Why do I want "followers"? It's not a blog! It's a big fat chat room

nwjerseyliz @JeanAnnVK People are different. Some try to increase #s, others protect updates or block people to try to control those following them.

MarkClayson @JeanAnnVK People will unfollow for all sorts of reasons. Don't change who / what you are 

SaintJer @JeanAnnVK Why change you if you are happy with you. By all means talk with them and see why they stopped following you...

avertua @JeanAnnVK I vote an adamant NO. If you're altering tweets 2 try 2 get or keep followers, then you might be tweeting for the wrong reasons?

SharonMcP @JeanAnnVK I do that 2, but why waste time when I can know immediately.WHY they unfollowed is not an issue with me. Their choice, their loss

avertua @JeanAnnVK Also, a lot of talk about biz vs. personal twitter accts. My take - Why? I'm the same person with my co and I am in life. 1 acct.

stacyvanwickler @JeanAnnVK change my ways for unfollowers? absolutely not. goes against principles of social media, no? ie, be real, honest, human

jeanannvk @avertua short answer, no. And by the way, do you all know you can snooze tweeple? a site that unfollows and refollows a tweeter

RawkinRadio @JeanAnnVK actually, if they unfollow, then your twits will go out to ONLY those who are interested in you, what you have to say, etc.

BianaBabinsky @JeanAnnVK, i agree. no reason 2 change what u twit abbt if peeps unfollow. if u change, how will ur existing followers know who u really r?

SaintJer @JeanAnnVK mere curiosity might prompt me, especially if I found that person's contributions engaging and thought provoking.

jeanannvk @SaintJer thanks for that info...that's really interesting. I would never have thought of reaching out to someone who left.

Brunette01 @JeanAnnVK I don't tweet to keep ppl. They follow me for a reason so obviously they want to know me. If they unfollow, their loss

ChristopherGurr @JeanAnnVK I think it's foolish not to try to learn something from unfollows, but it's disingenuous to alter you core self because of them

jeanannvk @anyachristine @juliadalton true, and what if they stopped following you because the cat is walking on the keyboard and accidentally...

SharonMcP @JeanAnnVK If they are not someone who I have had contact, yes. If they are someone I follow because I learn from them, no I don't unfollow.

avertua @JeanAnnVK Some people take the fol/unfol thing way 2 seriously. It's not always personal. Do u want 2 talk 2 ppl who don't want to hear u?

nwjerseyliz @JeanAnnVK That's hard to say. I think I'm still "myself" no matter who is following. But I try to be aware it's all public, ultimately

SpiritCoach @JeanAnnVK -I don't keep track of who unfollows -- prefer 2 focus on those who find something about my tweets special enuf 2 choose 2 follow

SaintJer @JeanAnnVK In our fast paced world, sometimes people need assurance of their impact in it; that their passage is noticed and appreciated.

mmWine @JeanAnnVK @avertua i will comb thru my FOLLOWER list, block bots, or ppl who ONLY tweet links to their blogs. they dont really FOLLOW me

ChristopherGurr @JeanAnnVK hmmm. If I was mass unfollowed & couldn't figure out why, I'd ask. Otherwise I look @ recent posts & evaluate my own content.

katzni @JeanAnnVK I wouldn't chase unfollows. Who knows why they followed in the first place! And it takes a bit to realize who you're following.

anyachristine @JeanAnnVK I totally agree with you--why should it matter if someone stops following--there can be many reasons for this

dwayne_king @JeanAnnVK I view this whole thing as a conversation. If they unfollow, they're basicly saying, "I'll talk, you listen." I say "No thanks."

NWGuy @JeanAnnVK chasinhg unfollowers? maybe a casual tweet but if they don't want to talk why bother...unless they were someone you value a lot

dwayne_king @JeanAnnVK I go back to "Twitter si an on-line coctail party." How fun is it to listen to someone that isn't interested in your input.


Lot's of great conversation on the topic of following and the purpose of Twitter. Still, I have to say I am not a fan of tracking followers. First of all, it seems a bit invasive. There is a reason why Twitter doesn't send a notification every time someone stops listening to you...privacy. And people should have the right to stop listening to my non stop chatter, without having to feel like I might call them on it.

In a way, it reminds me of how I first felt about Caller ID. I still want to be able to call folks without announcing my presence...I mean, this isn't the royal court here, people.

And, who knows why people stop following...things happen. And I think they should be able to do so without harangueing. If I couldn't stop following someone when I wanted, I might not follow them at all. I would have to think twice as hard about who I would and wouldn't follow...maybe missing out on some great conversations...

What's your opinion, tweeps? Do you want someone to contact you and ask you why you have stopped following?

Twitter and Automated Thank You's

I am constantly amazed by being a part of an evolving phenomenon like Twitter. Almost daily, someone thinks of trying something new, interacting in a new way, building readerships in a new way...and inevitably, spamming in a new way (more on that tomorrow). And, here's a link to my other posts on Twitter use.

Recently, I threw out a question on Twitter that started a conversation covering several topics. Today, we will start with the original question about thanks and automated responses. I will follow up tomorrow with a post about twitter follower interaction. Tune in at the bottom of the post to see my analysis of the conversation.

Here's how it all started:

@jeanannvk Important question: do you thank people for following you? I don't and I don't like to be thanked, either...but maybe I'm missing something

mmWine @JeanAnnVK oh, i dislike the automated response thing very much. I get them when i follow people and know it's SO plastic. Sorry folks

mmWine @JeanAnnVK And the ones i get are mostly people saying HEY THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ME, HERES MY BLOG/SITE CHECK IT OUT .. hmm, no.

NAPP_News @JeanAnnVK Meh... it depends. Sometimes I'll send a shoutout but if I did that for everyone, I'd b filling up the timeline.

@jeanannvk @NAPP_News right...and is there value in a generic "thanks"?

designmama @JeanAnnVK I don't and I've started unfollowing people who send me auto DMs with links to their biz right after a follow. SO annoying!

@jeanannvk @designmama I think that makes sense. I don't like automated thanks with a link to their biz...too pushy

ElasticMind @JeanAnnVK I do thank but I may start doing so privately DM rather than publicly.I worry my followers find it annoying & it's less personal.

@jeanannvk @ElasticMind I think it matters whether the thanks is personal or not...but I don't have time to personally thank 15 -20 peeps a day

tinainvirginia @JeanAnnVK - i used to, but then it got overwhelming and i was afraid i would miss someone.

workoutmommy @JeanAnnVK i can barely keep up with the follows, much less have time to write thanks you!

autumndahlia @JeanAnnVK I don't... but I'm not necessarily against it!

AndiePandie @JeanAnnVK No, cause sometimes I don't know who they are and I figure I must have said something interesting at some point. :)

@jeanannvk @AndiePandie which brings up the point that your followers are there b/c u add value to the stream. necessary to "thank" them?

mmWine @JeanAnnVK I'll ask you -I follow you- and now-and-again I'll blast out a tweet saying the people I follow are awesome, thank you! Genuine?

NAPP_News @JeanAnnVK Only to the person you are thanking. It's about maintaining balance between "broadcasting" and "one-on-one relationship building

ChristopherGurr @JeanAnnVK I always appreciate being thanked... as long as I don't think it's not a piece of software that's doing the thanking.

bberrymom @JeanAnnVK Most of the time when I follow I do not expect a thanks. Nor, do I send one out. I don't stalk them when they drop me either

macaroniandglue @JeanAnnVK Completely agree with you! Not that it's not nice, but I don't link to get a link in a "thanks" DM. Annoying and I won't do it.

ChristopherGurr @JeanAnnVK I don't thank people for following, though when I see it done I wonder if I should. Via DM, I would think.

JendisJournal @JeanAnnVK sometimes I do if I remember. I've wondered what is proper - thanking or not or doesn't matter

nwjerseyliz @JeanAnnVK I think it is nice for people who do but I don't. I have a lot of curious people who follow & unfollow so it would be weird

allenmireles @JeanAnnVK I try to but it depends on how busy I am and how many follows I need to respond to. I also try to visit their site or blog

I would say from our conversation that most people either don't care or dislike automated "thanks for following" responses...and they dislike even more when a link to a business is included in that message.

I suggest eliminating the time you spend thanking people and use it to engage new followers in relevant conversations. Though some people think it a follower is a gift, I think of them more as a co-creator of a process, a second side to a conversation. And if down the road, they have become a meaningful part of your interactions, then thank them...and you will be able to really mean it...

Please, tell me your thoughts on Twitter thank you's...

Social Media: Following Across Multiple Platforms

Social Media is still quite a phenomenon. We, as a culture don't really have a clear definition for what qualifies something as social media. And we haven't come close to establishing the "rules of engagement".

One of my favorite ways of exploring its boundaries is through a Twitter Poll. In a Twitter Poll, I ask a question that I have been pondering and see who is interested in a conversation. I ask a couple of clarifying questions, then I create a post about it so we can all benefit from our shared knowledge.

Recently, we had a great conversation about following people across platforms. When you see the list of all of the sites that someone has profiles, how many can you add to boost your connections, increase resources and expand your community?

@jeanannvk Thinking about the complexities of the relationships across social media. When we "find" someone do we follow them across platforms?
@jeanannvk OK, so if you follow someone across multiple platforms, when does it become too stalker-like?

MattSearles  I often do, depends on the connection though
daddyclaxton There is value in that, certainly, but I dare say it'd not be possible for 1400 people. Pick and choose what makes sense!
melinor In terms of: Follow me on Twitter, then follow my blog? Like that? Often the people I follow here end up in my Bloglines
aleta yes, if I find someone I think is interesting I will follow them across platforms but they have to be REALLY interesting.
jantallent I do the ones who really interest me. For example, I do NOT want 2 join 100 networks but cannot resist "just 1 more" from my favs

@jeanannvk See, I am thinking there is some value to following people on muliple levels, but not "major sources". ie might follow on Twitter, stumble
@jeanannvk And delicious...what's the diff between that and an aggregator like friendfeed

fmll RE: Follow - Usually not, unless I aspire to be where they are. Otherwise it's a little stalkerish and the same info repeated.
melinor If an individual advertises their various endeavors, and they all coincide with your interests, I wouldn't call it "stalking."
melinor However, rarely do I follow more than one or two instances of a person's Web presence.
jmhelms  when you only follow one person across several networks? Perhaps?

@jeanannvk Anyone following peeps across platforms because it helps them find likeminded people?
RichHopkins A cross between interaction level and intent. I follow joelcomm, & wld xplatform him, cuz he is a marketer. But I don't KNOW him


@jeanannvk ok, but hear me out...right now, I follow no one on delicious, but I want to find other entrepreneurs...can't I follow 2x?
RichHopkins  but xplatforming those I just 'peoplewatch' would be more stalker like, or at least meaningless application of those platforms.
@chloevdc well, I think maybe that's the case...can one do it without being too creepy? I think so
chloevdc If people are out there, follow wherever. Can get diff info from same person on blog v. FB v. twitter, helps to follow all, no?
RichHopkins I was thinking more LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, etc - haven't logged into Delicious in months. less intrusive than others IMO.
bluerose0907 @JeanAnnVK It depends on the person I think whether I would follow them across several platforms.

I think the results of the poll show that we still aren't sure if it is ok to follow someone on multiple social media platforms. Still, I think we are on the verge of discovering that we can optimize social media following like we can search engines. We leverage our contacts to find new information and other contacts, and we follow people we "trust" or "like" into new parts of the web.

In reality, I don't think that is much different than what we do in life outside of the web. Do I join a certain sports club or eat at recommended restaurants because my friends recommend it? Of course! And am I a member of professional groups that appeal to my mission? Sure. And I am more likely to use a particular product/service or connect with other people that are friends of my friend than I am to try something unfamiliar.

We need more research on this topic...and no doubt there will be many more conversations about it. We are still at the very beginning of understanding social media and its part in our lives...

TweetDeck, My Favorite Twitter Application

As you all know by now, I am a big fan of Twitter. The microblogging style of 140 character posts or less, makes it easy to pop in and out of conversations and also add relevant information in real time.

There are some things that you can do to ensure your followers are still following. Here's a previous post on Do's and Don'ts as well as a tweet conversation on Twitter followers.

This post, however, is about my favorite twitter application. It is called TweetDeck (@tweetdeck). It has the same basic functions that all twitter clients have, reading, posting, following, etc, but it has so much more!

This is what mine looks like in full screen mode (did I mention you can set your own display colors?). What you can't see in this shot is my scrolling tweets of people I follow, my replies and my direct messages...but they are there. What you are looking at here are my columns of global searches.

Let's see how TweetDeck describes this function:

TweetDeck enables users to split their main feed (All Tweets) into topic or group specific columns allowing a broader overview of tweets. To do this All Tweets are saved to a local database. The far left column will always contain All Tweets. The GROUP, SEARCH and REPLIES buttons then allow the user to make up additional columns populated from the database. Once created these additional columns will automatically update allowing the user to keep track of a twitter threads far easier.

Essentially, that means that you set up a search for a term, let's say "garden", and any tweet that has the word "garden" in it scrolls through that column. And why is that important? Because you can:

• find people who share similar interests
• identify a smaller group of people you follow and add them to their own column
• search for people who are talking about you and your business
• search for people who might be interested in your product or service

And the critical issue is that this is streaming live, so you can find folks in real time. Or, you can wait and scan through the whole thing at once.

This is a critical time saver for me...To find people before, I had to use twitter search (summize). That meant I had to go to my browser, go to the search page and enter the search term. Even if I subscribed to the search RSS, I still had to go to my reader to find the conversations. This way, my searches are all in one location, open all of the time, waiting for me to peruse.

Have you tried Tweetdeck? Let me know what you think...