#NewTwitter

Have you tried the New Twitter? While it’s slated to become active as a preview over the next several weeks, you are able to toggle between the two versions until the New Twitter becomes, well, Twitter.

What does the New Twitter have that Old Twitter doesn’t? The list includes @mentions, retweets, searches, and lists above your timeline on the left of the screen, and Twitter partnerships with DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog and YouTube that allow you to embed photos and videos.

In addition, additional info is shown when you click a Tweet, including @replies, other Tweets by that same user and a map of where a geotagged Tweet was sent from. Plus, a mini profile pops up when you click a @username so you don’t have to navigate away from the page.

Here’s what people have to say:

• morgan2303: How do you reply to tweets on the #newtwitter? Way to confusing for my liking.
• JEBowman: Love the #newtwitter!!!
• zhartley: Mixed feelings about #newtwitter. There are interesting features, but it definitely needs some refinement. Feels off.
• missbeasley52: I actually kind of like the #newtwitter. makes things easier with all the riveting stuff I have to say. :/

What do you have to say? Are you looking forward to the #NewTwitter?

(This is a repeat of the post I wrote on PRSA-MD’s blog, ‘More Than PR Basics’.)

Twitter Fortune 500

Is Twitter best for small business, big business, or for personal use? We’ll likely continue that debate, but new findings from the Society for New Communications Research (yes, there is such a thing!) as reported in the March 8 issue of PRnews found that Fortune 500 companies have takent to Twitter in a  big way.

According to the study:

• 35% of Fortune 500 companies have had an active Twitter account in the last year, with four of the top five corporations posting consistently.
• The most active industry using Twitter within the Fortune 500 companies was insurance - 13 companies actively tweet.
• Of the top 100 companies, 47 have active Twitter accounts, while the bottom 100 have 33.

Twarketing has a list of the Twitter accounts of Fortune 500 companies. Granted, they’re using the 2008 Fortune 500 list, and their post was originally posted in September of 2008, but it’s still a great resource.

The Types of People on Twitter

Inc. published online a guide to the types of people on Twitter, titled “8 Types of People that Belong on Twitter.” I attended a PRSA Leadership Rally this past summer, and discovered during the Keynote Address by Matthew Harrington, President and CEO of Edelman, U.S., that the younguns (can’t remember if this was high school or college students) told Harrington that “only thirty-year-olds are on Twitter!.” I can’t speak to the truth in the demographics of that, but Inc.’s article breaks up all of us Twitters into eight groups as follows:

1. The Personality - These are celebrities and others who are a brand unto themselves ala Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher.
2. The Guide - This group is made up of experts on a certain topic who are assigned to seek out and respond to questions related to the topic of their expertise.
3. The Brand Watchdog - Self-explanatory, really, but these are people working for a company; they respond personally and proactively to messages relating to their company or product.
4. The Customer Support Rep - A customer support rep who answers customers’ complaints, issues, and/or questions via phone calls, e-mails, as well as through Twitter.
5. The Publisher - Just as it sounds, this grouping is made up of those who feed info related to their topic of expertise and/or influence. They are usually relevant and consistent (or should be) with their tweets, though they may not be out first with the information.
6. The Promotion Channel - Spammers and e-commerce sites, along with contests, Twitter-only discount codes, and free giveaways make up this group.
7. The Conversationalist - Those who actively engage with their followers, truly connecting with them by tweeting several times a day, often conversing directly (or targeted to) a few individual people.
8. The Curious - I think of these via the older term of lurkers, for those making up this group simply listen without tweeting.

What type are you? Personally, I was a lurker (aka Curious) for a while, and am attempting to morph into a Conversationalist.

@LauraLaChapelle or @PRSA_MD

Twitter and PR

Jeff Davis, a recent speaker at the 2009 Chesapeake Conference, is somewhat of a local expert on social media and, specifically, how to use it for public relations and marketing. He has nicely uploaded the Twitter and PR Resources that he used in his presentation onto his blog and Web site, Sawmill Marketing.

Another great tool is their Sawmill Guide to Baltimore Media on Twitter - an invaluable resource.

2009 Chesapeake Conference

The 2009 Chesapeake Conference and Best in Maryland Awards on Tuesday, October 6 was a great day of learning, networking, connecting, and planning. It was a jam-packed day of multiple same-time sessions, covering topics including Twitter and PR, How to Get Big Agency Results from a Small Shop, Defending Corporate Reputation in the Age of Social Media, and Networking with New Media, among many others.

A keynote speech by Sandy Hillman of Sandy Hillman Communications started the day off - sessions by Jeff Davis, David Warschawski, Dave Imre and his panel, Bill Atkinson, Peggy Hoffman, and Dave Harrison, among others, followed. At lunch, the Best in Maryland Awards were announced and given out - congratulations to all the winners, incluging Best in Show winner Sandy Hillman Communications for their work on the 39th Annual World Series of Poker.

Overall, attendees had glowing feedback - some even calling it “the best conference I’ve been to since 1999!”. Many others raved about the Learning Journal given out instead of the usual binder and bag. The day was packed with learning and networking opportunities - including the happy hour after the sessions were over.

There were a few reporters in attandance for the Speed Pitching sessions, including Liz Farmer (who brought a photographer!) from The Daily Record.

Want to attend the Conference after the fact? Follow up on via the Conference’s Twitter stream under #Chessie09.

Political Twittering

For some reason, I’ve given alot of thought to Twitter lately. I’ve interspersed thoughts of “how do people have the time to Twitter, anyway?” with “Twitter is an extremely effective tool, and could be utilized quite readily by politicians”. Handily, I came across an extremely interesting article on Yahoo about just that topic - political twittering.

However, the article discussed two negative examples of Twitter being used by politicians, namely Sarah Palin and Arnold Schwarzenegger (all I can say to the latter is: “What???”), and then goes on to briefly examine other politicans’ use of Twitter. As this article states, “In March, columnist Charlie Cook of the National Journal wrote that he has ‘yet to hear a single intelligent remark twittered by an elected offical.’”

If you read The Christian Science Monitor’s post on political twittering, you’ll see much room for improvement. Granted, Twitter does pose a security threat (politicans blythely twittering about secret locations, classified info, etc.), and too often it is uselessly and pointlessly used as a “where am I now” commentary (”at the gym!”).

However, that just means there’s alot of room for improvement. Imagine the possibilities! Barack Obama did - his campaign’s use of social media tools helped get him elected. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Twitter can be a very effective tool, if used properly and strategically.

Rethink Your Approach to Employee Communications

How do you communicate to your employees? Do you post signs on the bathroom doors? Send out a mass e-mail? Hang up posters in the break rooms? Or, are you more advanced, with an employee newsletter, executive blog, and/or intranet site? Honestly, I’ve been at companies that have used all these approaches, from the bathroom signs to the dynamic intranet site.

Depending on the make up of your company, any and all of these methods can be effective. However, you should also consider utilizing social media. Develop a group for your company on LinkedIn and FaceBook, set up a Twitter feed, and even utilize YouTube and Wikis.

Hey, your employees are on these sites - rather than ignoring that fact, embrace it and use it to your advantage.

Social Media Boosts Event Marketing

Click Here for a short but interesting article on using social media to promote your event.

I’m using these tips in crafting and executing the promo plan for the PRSA-MD Chesapeake Conference and Best in Maryland Awards.

YouTwitFace - Thanks, Conan!

“YouTwitFace.” I love it! Conan certainly got it right. Everywhere you go, someone is talking about who they’re friends with on FaceBook, while someone else is twittering away on their BlackBerry, and someone else is recording something on their iPhone to then post to YouTube.

All great PR and Marketing tactics, to be sure, but too often companies are forgetting that’s exactly what they are - tactics. They’re not an answer in themselves, they’re not a strategy on their own. They’re pieces of the bigger puzzle, and each can’t stand on its own. Twitter by itself is not an effective strategy; for some companies, it may not even be a good tactic. I know - I may be the lone voice in the wind out here with that one, but it’s true. Each company must evaluate its strategy and the goals of their campaign to determine what tactics work best for them - old school strategy creation.

Some companies utilize a social media plan, while others incorporate social media tactics into their overarching plan. Again, depending on your goals, each system would work if done properly. However, I’m seeing a troubling triend with clients (and even some colleagues) where the opinion is that Twitter/FaceBook/YouTube, you name it, is the be all and end all for them. They come to me with that answer in mind, without first considering what their goals are and if, in fact, Twitter would really be the best way to achieve them.

So, a word of caution - social media tools are amazing, and I certainly put them into use when needed, but proceed with proper planning. YouTwitFace, to be sure!