I’m a big proponent of social media but I know everyone isn’t. Some people I talk to or work with are equally bullish about what social media can do for their companies. Others are a little more neutral. They’re not against social media, but they’re not convinced it’s great either. Then there are also those who simply don’t like it. The word “blog” gives them a nervous feeling in the pit of their stomach or the idea of customer comments and feedback makes them really uneasy.

I understand these people to some degree. They may have had a bad experience or have seen blogs (or other social media) used in a way that it harms someone and have therefore equated all blogs and social media to that same instance. The end result of this thinking, however, is that these individuals are social media killers within their companies. They’re the naysayers who won’t stand to listen and try to understand all the benefits. In my observation, there are three traits I’ve seen from the social media killers. They are:

• Fear - Whether they’re afraid of what people will say, won’t say, might say, or could say, the root of their unwillingness is a fear of the unknown. They don’t know social media and they’re scared. It’s too new, too open, too conversational, too accessible, too uncontrollable, and simply too different from the way they’ve always done things.
• Mistrust - Social media killers don’t trust people. They don’t trust their employees to be good representatives for the company and they don’t trust their customers. They want control and control always draws things in. Control doesn’t release. Trust requires release and social media requires trust.
• Unwillingness to listen to customers - Social media killers don’t want to hear what their customers have to say. Like the ostrich who buries his head in the sand, it’s easier to keep doing things like they have always been done than it is to ask the customer about his/her experience. If you ever hear someone say something like, “They may something bad about us” you’re dealing with a potential social media killer. In this case you may gently suggest that people may very well already be saying bad things about you, but you just don’t know it. At least if they’re saying bad things about you where you can see it, you can respond and maybe (just maybe) learn and change if needed.

The opposite of the three killers above are trust, faith, and a willingness to listen. Every company that’s considering social media will have to decide on one way or the other. If you’re trying to implement social media within an organization with a lot of social media killers I would recommend you start small. Get some small wins and then begin to take on the big three killers.

Later this week I’m leading a session for a client that’s being called “How to Write a Blog.” Actually I believe they’re calling it “Blog Training Writing” but “How to Write a Blog” sounds a little better. As I’ve been preparing for this session over the last two weeks I’ve been struck by the fact that the title is all wrong.

Initially I was all for leading a session called “How to Write a Blog” but now I don’t think it’s sufficient. A more appropriate title is “How to Be a Great Blogger” because the actual writing aspect of a blog is just part of the mechanics but being a great blogger is another thing entirely. Learning how to write a blog means you discover some tips, strategies, and thoughts on what to do…but you can know all of that and still be a really bad blogger with a really bad blog.

If your focus is on what to do, you’ll never learn how to be. If you want to “do” blogging you can start today. Go to Wordpress.com and get yourself a free blog and start blogging. But, if you want to “be” a blogger there are many other things you need to think about… things like tone, voice, attitude, style, and personality. Those aren’t things you really do. They’re things you are. They develop as you “do” blogging.

Sure, there are some things every good blogger should do…but in the end it’s not enough if you never cross the line to be a blogger. If you’ve been blogging for a while (or maybe you’re just getting started) ask yourself if you’re more interested in what to do or how to be. I recommend you keep your eye on how to be. The “doing” will come along the way.

I love The Office. It’s one of my favorite shows ever. I also love Hulu. Hulu has single-handedly persuaded me not to upgrade my cable because I don’t need to with all the TV shows and movies they have available there (for free I might add.) [UPDATE on 7/28: Ok, so I'm going to upgrade my cable after all with college football season upon us.]

Hulu allows its videos to be embedded in blogs (like the clip below) and has even taken video embedding to the next level. You can edit the clip you want to embed by trimming the clip with the tool they provide. It’s really easy and a great next step in the development of online video and encouraging people to spread your content. Keep an eye on Hulu if they’re not already on your radar screen…they should be. They’re at the forefront of the next wave of online video.

Here’s a good clip from The Office called Inappropriate Questions (which about sums up any episode really…)

Here’s the clip for the feed readers: Inappropriate Questions

Some interesting stats were released last month by ThirdAge and JWT Boom about Baby Boomers and social media. According to the study, Americans over 40 years old haven’t jumped headlong into social media and social networking. Only 22% access social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn and 67% said they have “little or no interest” writing blogs.

I don’t know if anyone is surprised by these stats. The original report took a really negative spin on this study but I think it bears some perspective. The Boomer generation is so large (78 million) that 22% represents over 17 million people. That’s 17 million pretty hip folks who remember where they were when JFK was assassinated (or…for the youngest Boomers, saw Star Wars when it was a new release in the theaters.) Another thing to think about is that it’s not as big a deal that only 33% are interested in writing blogs. There are still almost 26 million Boomers who have some interest in writing blogs and we know from Forrester Research that about half of Boomers read blogs.

Perhaps the most interesting thing from the study was the concern over privacy on social networking sites. About half of the study’s respondents “cited concerns over privacy and having personal information on the web.” The current generation of youth and young adults don’t think much about privacy so that may have as much to do as anything with their rapid adoption of social networking…and the subsequent limitations to its adoption among Boomers.

The bottom line is Boomers represent a massive portion of the population and control 83% of consumer spending in our country so I wouldn’t go writing them off in social media and social networking circles just yet. Sure, they may get on board a little later, but give them a break…if sixty really is the new forty, they still have time.

A few weeks ago Nathan and I had the chance to interview some of the people at the first Digital Nashville event for our New Mediology podcast.

Here’s a list of the people we interviewed:

• Alison Groves - SEO Copywriter for Sitening and former long-time employee for Lee Ann Womack.
• Jackson Miller -Founder and developer of Statzen and creator of URLzen.com
• Katy Kirby - Executive Director of Digital Nashville.
• Elin Eifler - Founder of Digital Nashville.
• Dave Delaney -Founder of Barcamp Nashville and Podcamp Nashville and social media consultant.
• Jamie Meredith - Account Manager for Centre{source}

I shot a little bit of video at the event too…enjoy!

A few weeks ago I had heated debate friendly discussion with Nathan about whether Twitter is a social network or a social media platform. You can hear the discussion here. He said it’s a social network. I said it’s social media. As I have thought more about it since then I think we were both wrong. Twitter is both.

It would be limiting to Twitter to say it is JUST one or the other because it has so many aspects that are distinct to social media and social networking alike. For instance, social media is about user generated content, conversation, and sharing information. Twitter does that. Social networking, however is about connecting people together through shared interests, interacting,  and facilitating relationships. Twitter does that too. What I have realized is that Twitter as a tool/platform is distinct in that it covers both the social media and social networking.

I think Nathan and I were debating the wrong question. The better question is this: Do you use Twitter as just a social network or social media or do you use (and utilize) it as both simultaneously? The basis for my original perspective of Twitter as a social medium was because I only used it as a social medium. I hadn’t really been looking at it for social networking opportunities. Likewise, I suspect Nathan was using Twitter more from a social networking side and not as much for the social media opportunities.

So now the challenge is this: if we find ourselves on one side or the other, how do we incorporate the other side into our Twitter use? For me, I know I can use it better to interact with people who I don’t know (or don’t know well.) That’s not something I’ve done much, but I think I’m going to start…after all, that’s part of the social network aspect of Twitter that I’ve been missing out on.

Bonus Twitter related info: USA Today wrote an article about Twitter. Plan on some extra downtime over the next few days as more people (who hadn’t heard of Twitter until now) join and give it a shot.

There are signs around us everyday giving us valuable information. We probably see most of them. In many cases it’s not a big deal if we miss one. Like if we miss an exit on the highway we can just turn around and catch it the other direction. Then there are signs that don’t apply to everyone…but if they do apply to you, you really should pay attention…unlike this person.

Here’s the link for the feed readers: Maximum Height Requirement

Last week I conducted a social networking experiment. I had been asked to recommend someone in LinkedIn and as I was doing it I got to thinking about how I’ve never been big on writing recommendations for LinkedIn. In fact, I’ve struggled with LinkedIn’s true usefulness for most professional unless they’re in the market for a new job (and therefore need the networking components LinkedIn provides.)  It’s great to make connections but I don’t get the sense of community and activity there like I do in Facebook or something more local for me like Digital Nashville. It’s not that I’m against LinkedIn, it’s just that it felt like something I should do but didn’t really see a direct benefit.

The Experiment

A funny thing happened while I was writing the requested recommendation. I started thinking about how bloggers strategically spread “link love” by linking to fellow bloggers to promote both blogs, so could two people benefit from some LinkedIn love in the form of recommendations? I think so…and my little experiment has proven so.

I spent about a half hour recommending people I know from various work experiences. Some are former coworkers. Some are current clients. Some are vendors I work with. I wrote short, genuine, personal recommendations for several people. And then I waited.

What happened in the 48 hours that followed was wonderful. I heard back from almost every single person. Some simply thanked me for the kind words. Others said they would return the favor and write a recommendation for me on LinkedIn. In one case, I found out the recommendation even made it to the “What Others Are Saying About Me” page on one guy’s business blog.

The bottom line was it bolstered my own LinkedIn recommendations a bit (with some others still coming I understand) and it earned me some relational equity from the rest of the people. It was a win for them (they received an unsolicited recommendation) and it was a win for me because I was able to do something nice for them and get a little LinkedIn recommendation love myself.

My Hesitation For This Post

One final thing…I should note that I was hesitant to post about this experiment because the last thing I want to do is misrepresent my motives in this experiment as self serving or that I only wrote recommendations for the favor that might be returned to me. That wasn’t the case because I actually didn’t know what kind of reaction I would receive. I suspected that some people would be happy with the recommendation, but I was equally braced for the fact that some people could be highly suspicious of an unwarranted recommendation so I only wrote recommendations for people I know personally and I didn’t ask anyone to recommend me back.

The way I see it is that the gift of unsolicited recommendations is the cake. If recommendations or relational favor are a result, that’s icing. The experiment was really just that: if I serve cake, does icing exist? I found that the answer is YES…as long my cake is authentic. Maybe you can serve some authentic cake today too.

I remember being totally enamored by the story of Mozart the first time I saw Amadeus. One of the things Mozart did was change the way the Austrians viewed operas. They thought they knew what an opera was and then they experienced Mozart’s operas. He built on the foundation of operas as they had been done but improved on it dramatically.

In many ways that’s how I see the new marketing opportunities with social media and social networking tools. They build on the foundation of old marketing for something better. The video below from Amadeus drives home the difference between the old and new. Be sure to listen for the quote, “It doesn’t really work, does it?” Seems like it fits the old marketing vs. new marketing analogy pretty well. Here’s the clip for the feed readers.

According to Apple CEO, today was the “biggest launch of his career.” That’s quite a statement from the guy who launched the iMac, iPod, and original iPhone. Suffice it to say…today was important for Apple, if for no other reason than because Steve said so.

Now it’s pretty well known that Apple isn’t too interested in employees blogging or even an official corporate blog. There’s an unofficial Apple blog and even a Fake Steve Jobs blog (which appears to be going away now incidentally) but nothing official from the people who inside the apple. For the last several years Apple really hasn’t had to worry about their own blog. After all, they had/have millions of raving fans to say everything for them. Then today came. The biggest launch day in Jobs’ career and it hasn’t gone well for customers.

What Happened Today:

In a nutshell two things happened today from what I’ve read (and heard). One the one hand the hardest of hardcore iPhone enthusiasts stood in line for days and hours to get the new iPhone. According to reports, many people walked away disappointed today due to a lack of supply. The bigger issue today, however, was that for the (presumably) hundreds of thousands who did purchase today, the activation servers at Apple were down for hours. This rendered the new iPhones inoperable and the old iPhones for those making the switch inoperable as well. I saw many an Apple fan not happy with Apple today by just watching Twitter.

So, back to the blog…if Apple had a blog today they would have been able to tell customers what was going on and when they could expect it to be fixed. If Apple had a blog they would have been talking directly to their biggest supporters (because who else waits that long for something you can walk in the store for in a few days?) If Apple had a blog it wouldn’t have fixed the problems but it would have changed the conversation.

The good news for Apple is that it has a ton of relational equity to spend. Today it spent some by all accounts. Apple will probably be fine. They’ll even be fine without a blog, but they’re one of a very few number of companies where people would basically say, “it was a terrible experience but it was ‘worth the hell.’” Apple has this equity and brand loyalty. You don’t. You (and I) never will. If you don’t have a blog then how will you communicate during your own iPocalypse?