The MatriX Files

I’ve been on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn for some time now.  I’m also on FoodBuzz, Plaxo, Delicious and StumbleUpon.  Most recently, I signed up for FourSquare, Amplify and Buzz.  FourSquare is a location-based social network that allows  subscribers to check-in from their current location using their mobile phones and provides tips and recommendations.  Amplify asks “users to share news and information they find thought provoking and conversation-worthy,” not anything and everything about their lives, status and locations.  Buzz is the latest offering from Google that lets you share updates, links, photos and videos.

Now that I’m signed up for all of these services, I’m asking myself these questions:

• Which social networks should I be on personally and professionally?
• Most of the social networks let me share out updates from one network to another; should I share out my tweets or does that defeat the reason to be on multiple networks?
• Am I reaching a different audience on each network or will I be talking with the same group of social network-obsessed friends and colleagues?
• Just how many networks is practical for me to keep updated without losing my mind?

To try and get some perspective on these questions, I turned to my friend Jill Foster, social network guru, video blogger, and co-founder of DC Media Makers.  Jill has over 5,000 followers on Twitter, nearly 600 Facebook friends and she’s prolific on what seems like every major social network.  Here’s what she has to say about being active on at least a half dozen platforms:

There are online networks where my content may overlap but that’s intentional and less frequent.

Twitter:
It’s my central hub of online conversation plus a place to observe other users’ content -  and share content I produce.  Twitter frankly goes beyond a business platform for me.  Twitter is a liberal arts engagement pool (with a water cooler chat mentality mixed in) that never stops.

Twitter Search:
If I want to virtually attend a conference – I follow that conference’s hashtag or the feeds for those able to attend in person.  Also, to observe and engage on core topics of interest with people, I keep certain Twitter feeds active, e.g., women entrepreneurs, public figures, public speaking, social media.

Amplify:
It’s not a water cool chat mentality when I use Amplify.  It’s an excellent platform and opportunity for sharing deeper perspective.  I forward links to these conversations (which include entire clipped excerpts) to Twitter or, if content is more on the personal development front, to Facebook as well.

Posterous:
I enjoy Posterous for sharing mobile content – audio, video, and pics – which forwards to Twitter, where I can respond and engage.

Facebook:
I use Faceboofor more personal engagement,  although my professional drive/views may be shared there.

LinkedIn:
It has a fantastic array of subject-centric, professional groups. I am starting to use LinkedIn to join groups and be part of discussions.  It’s less a place to share regularly or engage through content (vs. Amplify or Twitter).

So there you have it.  A social media maven’s primer on the major social networking platforms and how to use them.  As for me, I’m slowly getting hooked on FourSquare and I’m trying to find time to post on Amplify.

How about you? How many and which networks are you on?  How do you distinguish between them?  How much time do you spend updating each day?  And which one is your favorite?

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In the last twelve months, Facebook has made some major and minor changes to its interface. Each time they did this, there was hundreds of blog posts decrying or applauding the changes.  There’s even a group called “I Automatically Hate The New Facebook Home Page.”

Why do we get so upset when Facebook changes its interface?

In looking at some of the blog posts and news articles, I can understand many of the complaints. For my part, I cannot figure out the difference between News Feed and Live Feed. But I love that it’s easier to get to my Inbox and see which of my friends is currently online. I also think that Facebook generally does a great job of explaining why they have implemented specific changes.  I thought this Guide to the new Facebook Home Page was especially good.

Psychologists tell us that most humans are averse to change. With over 350M users, any change then to Facebook, no matter how small, is bound to upset some segment of the user base. And if just 1% is unhappy and vocal, that’s still 3.5M people.  If 0.1 were unhappy, that would be 350,000 people!

All of this got me thinking. Matrix Group is in the business of redesigning Web sites. We work with clients who want to redesign their sites for all kinds of reasons: name change, the navigation is not intuitive, the company’s focus has changed, yada, yada. But if Facebook users are any indication of how averse we are to change, no matter how rational, articulated or needed, there is always going to be a segment that is unhappy. This unhappy user base may be vocal about it, which I think is a good thing because then you have an opportunity to respond to the concerns.  If the user base is unhappy and silent, then you’re in trouble because you don’t know you have a problem.
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• Tags: Design, strategy, Web Design

Last week, I blogged about how a social media site like YouTube represent the future of advertising. But social media can also represent the anti-advertisement: bad reviews from unhappy customers who are eager to spread the word about a company’s failings. Witness the following:

• My friend Tanya runs a blog called NitpickyConsumer.com.  Tanya blogs about good and bad customer service, companies that don’t seem to care, companies that just don’t get it.
• This disillusioned Dell customer created a Dear Dell rant on YouTube that has garnered over 32,000 views and nearly 1,600 comments!
• Check this one out.  Dave Caroll wrote a song and created a video about United Airlines breaking his guitar.  The video has been viewed over 8 million and generated nearly 43,000 ratings (average 5 stars).  Ouch.
• And don’t forget the millions of updates that subscribers to various social networks fire off every day about their experiences.  Many are about lousy customer service.  Do a search on Twitter for “comcast sucks” or “verizon sucks” and you’ll never run out of tweets.

As marketers, we’re always trying to position or brand our companies.  But Harvard Business Review says “your brand is no longer your own” because anyone can go online and talk about your company and its offerings. And when our family, friends and colleagues talk, we listen.  A recent survey sponsored by Tealeaf.com found that “74% of online adults said negative comments read online have an influence on whether they will do business with a company.”  Wow.
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• Tags: customer service, marketing

It’s got to be tough being in the advertising business these days. DVRs (digital video recorders) are allowing viewers to skip commercials, premium channels offer fewer advertising opportunities, circulation numbers for print publications continue to spiral downwards, and research shows that most users avoid anything that looks like a banner ad on a Web page.

Ugh, so what’s an advertiser to do?

This morning, I had the pleasure of seeing Dave Nelsen, President of Dialog, talk about social media for business.  While discussing YouTube, Dave showed us a video that he called “the future of advertising.”  The T-Mobile Dance is a 2:41 minute video of commuters at Liverpool Station in England dancing their hearts out.  As more and more people join in, onlookers snap photos, take video and share the experience with their friends through their T-Mobile phones, of course.

Dave made the point that this video represents the future of advertising because:

• The company got me to willingly watch a loooong ad. This would never happen on TV!
• Because YouTube allows comments, over 16,000 people have commented on this video, creating incredible buzz and feedback for the company.
• The video was so successful that T-Mobile created a YouTube channel for its “Life’s for Sharing” campaign.  Fans can even create their own videos and T-Mobile posts the best of the bunch.  There’s a video of a Korean baby singing Hey Jude and a singer jamming from atop a bus. How’s that for a user-generated content strategy?

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• Tags: marketing, User-Generated Content, Video, YouTube