Sometimes tweets can do a lot of good. We’ve seen this happen during times of natural disaster, when a single tweet can alert family members that a relative is safe, or spur on action by people to help, donate or volunteer. Or in areas of the world with political strife: one tweet can help people mobilize in protest, disseminate vital information, or tell people in other parts of the world exactly what is happening to them through words, pictures, and video — often when their government won’t.

As the news of the tragedy in Newtown, CT began to unfold, people took to Twitter and Facebook to express their shock, anger and support for those affected by the shooting. Social media became a community that people could turn to, to offer support and collectively try to make sense of it all.

However, some companies scrambled to try to figure out what to do with their scheduled programming. Should marketing campaigns be put on hold? Should a live event on Twitter be canceled or go on as planned?

The results were mixed: some Twitter chats were canceled or rescheduled, while others carried on as planned; some advertising on social media ceased, while other posts and tweets continued. In what is still considered to be an evolving medium, it seems that on social networks — at crucial times — confusion reigns. But the backlash can be swift and sometimes unforgiving.

For example, Kmart had a toy chat scheduled for the afternoon that the news broke. They decided it would be best to cancel it. In tweeting about the cancellation, they used their chat’s chosen hashtag, but also included a hashtag about the Connecticut shooting that was trending at the time.

A spokesperson for Kmart said the use of the promotional hashtag was necessary to inform those who were planning on participating in the chat of the cancellation. However, some have argued that their goal could have been reached by using only the hashtag intended for the chat, not the trending tag as well. By including the trending tag in the tweet, it appeared to some that they were taking advantage of the trend to gain greater exposure for their promotion. According to Kmart, that was not their intent. But unfortunately, it came across that way to some of those who were following the trending topic hashtag.

Some lessons to be learned in similar, difficult situations:

When in Doubt, Don’t Tweet (or Post). Posting about anything business or sales-related in the middle of a tragic event can cause others to question your sensitivity. If you have any doubts about whether or not the timing is appropriate-don’t do it. Rescheduling a chat or delaying posts won’t cost you much in time, but will help you save face. Also, when most people are seeking more information about a breaking story, or trying to cope with the news and are reacting very emotionally to it, they are not likely to be interested in hearing your marketing messages or taking part in a Twitter chat. So why risk it?

Never Hijack a Hashtag. It’s one thing to contribute meaningful content to an existing tag. But don’t combine it with any other hashtag, no matter how well-intentioned. Some have done it by mistake; others wrongly seize an opportunity.

Be In Tune With Your Followers. Take a look at their tweets. Take their emotional temperature. Are they reacting strongly to something? Then make sure your tweets are appropriate and do not offend. No one knows this better now than Kenneth Cole, who sent out a tweet during an uprising in Egypt that not only included a trending hashtag, but also mentioned one of Cole’s products, and seemingly made light of a terrible situation. An apologetic tweet sent two hours later did little to put a positive spin on this gaffe. (Some even wonder whether the designer truly regretted the original tweet, and perhaps even subscribes to the ‘There is no such thing as bad publicity’ theory.)

We’ve all heard the expression, When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When encountering a sensitive situation, the best advice for a business might be to do as everyone else does: turn off the marketing messages and be a human being.

Over the years, we have all seen the articles: Facebook Beats MySpace; Twitter Challenges Facebook; Will Google+ Take Over Social Media?-And so on. We are often left guessing which titan will fall, and when they do, who will be there to lay claim to the pieces.

However dominant Facebook may now seem, there appears to be a shift in the air: people are playing favorites. Not everyone logs into the same social network everyday. Some networks appear to be attracting certain demographics, turning many into ‘niche networks.’

For example, LinkedIn has positioned itself as the networking leader for business people, while Pinterest has really caught on with females, especially those who love crafting, cooking, decorating and family fun ideas. A jobseeker might log into LinkedIn first thing in the morning, eager to make new connections, while an avid Pinterest user might create a new board to pin ideas on while she enjoys her morning coffee.

New social networks that have cropped up recently are being described as new alternatives to the old standards: Pheed.com and App.net offer social media users a twist on the social network. Pheed.com allows those who create ‘channels’ either offer content for free or charge for it, which some believe might create more meaningful, worthwhile posts. App.net is a paid service that promises add-free content. We checked out Pheed recently, which seems to carry itself with an edgy, cool, ‘insiders’ feel, thanks to a soft launch that courted a number of celebs and musicians. While app.net has positioned itself as an alternative to Twitter, one for those who are serious about technology and  seriously opposed to advertisements.

Rather than seeing one social network replace another, it’s more likely that these networks and any others created hereafter will succeed if they can find — and retain — certain niches (we can’t lay claim to the idea; they’re already being called ‘niche networks’ by many). The idea here being that certain formats and online venues naturally attract certain people. Someone who logs into Pheed to check out his favorite independent artist is most likely not spending the rest of his day pinning pins on Pinterest, and vice versa.

How can this help your business when it comes to social media? Know that it might not pay to be everywhere. Social media is free in the sense that many sites don’t charge a fee to use them, but time really is money. Posting on every site out there might not be worth your time or effort. Instead, know your audience and find your niche. Where are your customers hanging out? On Twitter? Then focus more on tweeting and developing a conversation with them. Are your products visually appealing and likely to be pinned & repinned? Then concentrate more on creating fabulous photographs that will make their way across boards on Pinterest. Are you an up-and-coming brand whose future clients are teens who love hip hop? Then it would be worth setting up a channel on Pheed. Social media can be time consuming. Most of us can’t be everything to everyone. It’s best to find where your audience is and be there too; connect with them where they’re opening and willing to take part in a conversation.

Tags: app.net, pheed.com, social media segmentation

Article by Lillian Sanders, Guest Contributor

If you are looking for a new job, you may be judged on your credit rating as well as your social media rating. For jobs that require a good understanding of social media, how often you update your Twitter and Facebook, as well as what you post, may help you get hired.

Third-party companies like Klout use data from many social networking sites to create a score that represents how much influence you have. The higher your score, the more people pay attention to what you have to say. Unfortunately, a high number of followers is not enough to raise your score. You must also engage your followers and influence them with your messages.

In 2009, noted blogger Anil Dash was on Twitter’s list of suggested people to follow. Although he gained upwards of 100 new followers per hour, this did not increase his website traffic, replies or retweets on Twitter. This is because these new followers were not listening to his messages, nor did he have any influence on them.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams believes that retweets are more important than the number of followers. Retweets help you reach a larger audience, and since they trust the person who retweeted your message, they are likely to trust your message. Twitter does tell users when and who retweeted their message, but they do not display how many users saw your message.

Klout uses a complicated algorithm that is designed to measure how important social media users are. It gives each user a number from 1 to 100, with 100 being the most influential. Companies can use this number to help their customers. Hopefully, this number will not be used to tell how important a person is, but rather give ways the company can help the person.

Some hotels have already started upgrading a person’s room based on their Klout score in hopes the person will give a positive review on Twitter or Facebook. Instead of giving perks to only a select few, companies could use this information to suggest local restaurants and attractions based on the person’s interests on social media sites. In addition to a number score, Klout also gives a list of topics that the user tweets about regularly. This would help the company make suggestions, and the customer will be happy with their stay and have a positive opinion of the company.

This seems to be a better way to use Klout and social media influence. Since not everyone uses social media for their jobs or pleasure, it seems unfair to punish those with a low score. It is like picking the most popular person out of a room and offering them an upgrade.

Lillian Sanders is a creative writer from Michigan. She thanks TweeParties for the guest posting opportunity. As a writer, Lillian is contributes to CD Duplication in Orlando helping create marketing presentations.

Tags: influence, Klout, social media, Twitter

Twitter announced this week changes to its API that will limit the number of times a third-party client can access Twitter (see Mashable article Twitter’s API Update Cuts Off Oxygen to Third-Party Clients to learn more).

While this news has some developers scrambling (or seething, depending on who you talk to), what exactly does this mean for the general Twitter populace? For starters, it could change how you tweet.

API or ‘application programming interface’ is basically the gateway to Twitter for other apps. There are limits on how many times an app may contact Twitter, and this week Twitter restricted those limits even more. According to Twitter, these changes are intended to “deliver a consistent Twitter experience” for users. Twitter is trying to encourage the development of apps that help with things such as analytics and influence rankings, and discourage use of apps for aggregating tweets or apps that people would use as a Twitter client instead of using Twitter itself. This makes sense for Twitter: they want people to use their client and see their ads and promotions, not someone else’s.

However, many third-party clients are popular not just in day-to-day use, but for communicating more easily during Twitter chats and Twitter parties. Applications such as Hootsuite, Tweet Chat and Tweet Grid are used by thousands every day to attend chats. At the start of nearly every Twitter party we host, we tweet out a “custom link” for people to more easily attend a party via TweetGrid. As of right now, attending a Twitter chat strictly on Twitter without the help of a third-party client is not an option many users want to take.

This isn’t to say that all chat apps are immediately being put out of business or that the chat apps we mentioned above are done for; however, they might be limited on how much they can grow, the maximum number of users they can have, and how many tweets they can access per hour. So it is possible some of our favorites will be affected and we might have to get used to the idea of attending a chat in a different way. Twitter says they will work with some developers who have reached their limits to gain more access than what is allowed. But how many apps and which ones will get special treatment are still for the most part unknown (though tweet collector Storify was mentioned by Twitter as being an app that exemplifies the types of Twitter apps developers should be creating.) This could lead to serious issues for Twitter chats and Twitter parties as the events grow in popularity. Many of these apps are free to use, and exist with the hope of generating ad revenues to fund themselves. This clashes with Twitter’s goal of generating ad revenue, and could be a reason why these limits now exist: to turn eyes away from apps and back to Twitter where their clients’ ads are running.

On the bright side (if you can call it that), Twitter-owned aggregator Tweet Deck most likely will not be compromised. It works in the same way as many of the third-party aggregators and since it has the Twitter stamp of approval, we can only guess that it would not be subject to strict API limitations. In the future, we might be instructing Twitter party and chat attendees on how to use it for a better chat experience. Or much to the disappointment of developers and Twitter users alike—the only option for a better chat experience.

In requests for more information about our Twitter party and Twitter chat services, we are often asked, “How can I get my hashtag to become a trending topic on Twitter?”

The question’s frequency makes sense: To have your hashtag or brand name displayed along Twitter’s ‘trending topics’ column is a coveted position, with the top or ‘promoted’ trend costing an advertiser a reported $120K to achieve it. Trending topics are seen and monitored by millions of sets of eyes per day; to be one of them can be game-changing for a company. When a user clicks on a trending topic, they will see a list of all recently-tweeted tweets that contain that term. For companies, this means having more people learn about them and get introduced to their products and services. And free advertising that could be seen by millions is impossible to resist.

What exactly makes a topic trend?

According to Twitter, “an algorithm determines which topics are ‘trending’ in the location you’ve selected. This algorithm identifies topics that are immediately popular, rather than topics that have been popular for a while or on a daily basis.” What this means is, one million people each day might tweet Justin Bieber’s name, but sheer volume doesn’t make a topic trend. A trending topic usually represents a surge of tweets, even if the volume is less than that of a topic tweeted about regularly. It’s Twitter’s way of trying to keep is users aware of what is current and newsworthy. If sheer volume was the only factor, Justin Bieber might be the top trending topic every day for years, making the whole point of having trending topics useless.

How do I do it?

Often a trending topic is something that is newsworthy that suddenly becomes talked (or tweeted) about by a large number of people at the same time. For example, an event being watched on t.v., such as an awards show or sporting event, are likely to become part of a trending topic due to the number of people who are likely to tweet about it at or around the same time. So there is the element of timeliness as well as volume that seems to make for a trending topic. Your goal then should be to get a lot of people tweeting your hashtag at the same time. If you do not have a national stage to work with (such as a high profile t.v. show or event), then a great way to attempt to achieve this is a Twitter event, such as a Twitter chat or party. Twitter parties occur at a specific time, have a certain hashtag that people will tweet to be included in the event, and usually have a significant number of attendees online at the same time who will tweet using that tag. However, simply deciding to have an event and holding it won’t guarantee that your hashtag trends; you still have to put together a quality event with a skilled host, informative content, noteworthy or high-profile guest contributors and awesome prizes and special offers to really get some buzz. We’ve found that those elements are a big draw when it comes to Twitter parties, and are most likely to get tweeted about. However, there is a downside to becoming a trending topic during a chat: hashtag spam. Once you’re topic starts trending, beware of spammers hijacking your tag by using it to promote their own links completely unrelated to yours. Be prepared to offer followers of your chat an alternative hashtag to switch to for purposes of the chat, to steer clear of spammers and get the chat’s conversation back on track.

How not to do it.

Twitter has specific guidelines for hashtags and tweeting that, if not followed, could get your account flagged when trying get your hashtag to trend. If you see another topic trending and try to get your hashtag noticed by including it in a tweet along with the other trending topic’s hashtag, that is considered spammy and unacceptable (Twitter does not like unrelated hashtags in tweets; it’s misleading). Repeatedly tweeting you hashtag, or encouraging others to do as much as possible so as part of a tweeting contest, in an attempt to get it trending without adding value to the conversation the hashtag is part of is another no-no (tweeting contests are acceptable if limited to one tweet per day). Also, taking a trending topic hashtag and tweeting out links to your profile or website along with those trending tags is another way to get into trouble. On Twitter, like everywhere else on the web, organic is good. Create hashtag tweeting opportunities that are natural and not forced. While it’s great to get a topic to trend, it’s even better to provide excellent content to your followers, become a value to them, and remain in good standing with Twitter.

With ‘Tailored Trends,’ Are Trending Topics as Valuable as They Once Were?

Recently, Twitter allowed users to get ‘tailored trends’ — or to turn their list of trending topics into a column customized just for them. Twitter says this about tailored trends: “Trends offer a unique way to get closer to what you care about. Trends are tailored for you based on your location and who you follow.” To turn this setting off or on in your own account, go to the “change” button next to the trending topics column. Click on that, and you’ll get the option either to turn this feature off or on, depending on your current settings. The intent of this feature is to help users see trends related to those issues/places/people who matter most to them. Tailored trends takes into account a user’s location and those users he/she follows to come up with a list of trends that are relevant that user alone. With this feature turned on, the topics you see trending are no longer the same as what everyone else is seeing, but rather made just for you. What does this mean for trending topics in general? When your hashtag trends, it may not be seen by as many eyes as in the past, since everyone might not see the same trends. However, if you don’t succeed at making your hashtag trend on a worldwide (or countrywide/citywide scale), it still might have the ability to trend to your followers — or those who might really matter to you and who are already eager to hear what you have to say. Tailored trends might have put somewhat of a damper on widely-viewed trending topics, but on the flipside, the service might help topics that would normally have trouble trending on a large scale now get noticed more easily. On another note, if you are hosting a chat or party, and see your hashtag ‘trending,’ check to make sure whether or not you have tailored trends turned on. You just might be ‘trending’ to a limited audience, rather than citywide, nationwide, or worldwide.

Tags: hashtag, tailored trends, trending topic, Twitter, twitter chat, Twitter party

Tweet

Most people agree that when it comes to social media, one post alone won’t likely boost your business. Instead, each tweet or post is just one small piece over the overall social media marketing puzzle. Just as it takes many bricks assembled together to make a house, each tweet builds on the others until all of our efforts add up to something in the long run. It’s about creating relationships and interest in our products and services and most of the time it’s not about making a quick sale.

But while one tweet cannot make your business, can it break it?

One such scenario that made the news recently was a tweet sent out by designer Kenneth Cole (@KennethCole) that many considered to be in very poor taste. Here’s the tweet that was later removed from Twitter:

Kenneth Cole later issued the following apology on the company’s Facebook page:

“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.” - Kenneth Cole, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer

It is unclear what impact-if any-this will have on Kenneth Cole’s business. Today the company still has over 10,000 followers. However, there were dozens of comments left on Kenneth Cole’s Facebook page, reactions ranging from expletives, outrage and promises of boycotts-the kind of publicity no company desires.

So how does one avoid such a mess? It’s easy to say, “Don’t post anything stupid,” but sometimes that might be easier said than done, especially if your business has multiple people manning the social media helm. Here are a few tips to help your company send tweets that don’t garner negative reactions:

Think Before You Tweet. Sounds easy, right? But Twitter is a medium that by its very nature compels people to tweet their latest thoughts and opinions. That’s fine if this is your personal account seen only by friends. But for a business, every tweet becomes part of your public image and might be scrutinized by followers and media alike. It’s good to be current and ‘in-the-moment’ at times, but be sure to think about what you’re tweeting and the impact it might have on your followers. Be sensitive. And when in doubt, leave it out.

Set Standards. If you have more than one person representing your company on Twitter or Facebook, set guidelines for what should and should not be posted. Be explicit about what is and what is not acceptable and make sure everyone understands what is expected of them when tweeting. Just as you want to keep the lines of communication open between you and your followers, do the same with your staff. Regularly meet and discuss what your social media objectives are, what feedback your account has received from followers and fans, and what gets the best reaction. Make social media a team effort. Your online presence should have one consistent voice that followers come to identify and trust, even if many people comprise that voice.

Be Wary of Humor. It’s good for a business to have a personable ‘voice’ on Twitter and Facebook-to let people see that the account is not an automated robot, but rather populated by real people with real personalities who can respond when asked a question. But be careful if you try to make your posts humorous. Everyone’s ‘sense of humor’ is different; what’s funny to one person, might not be so amusing to another. Sometimes written humor can be misconstrued by the readers. Keep in mind what your purpose is. Is it to entertain? Then by all means, crack jokes now and then. But is it to inform and to interact with consumers and provide them with some form of customer service? Then it just might be best to leave the rubber chicken at home.

Be Wary of Politics. Often companies get involved in charitable causes and tweet about fundraisers or organizations they support. But be careful of tweeting or positing about anything of a political nature, unless you want to take a stand or know that the majority of your followers would agree with you. There is evidence that people do not respond or click on links if they do not agree with the political statements being made in them. If you want to engage your followers in a conversation and keep them talking to you (and about you), leave out the politics, unless that type of dialogue complements your business.

Tags: business, etiquette, Facebook, Kenneth Cole, Twitter

Yesterday, I spent a good portion of my day baking cookies with my 3-year-old daughter. Christmas cutouts in the shapes of gingerbread men, the making of which somehow dispersed sprinkles, flour and dough into nearly every nook and cranny of our home.

My daughter had a blast, and so did I. But this was the same recipe I have been making for dozens of years, since I was about her age. Tradition is great, comforting, and fun—but I have vowed to try something new this week and treat my family to a new recipe that will surprise them as long as it’s not burned (which, actually, would be no surprise!).

During the hours that we spent baking, I got to thinking: this principle could be used in the world of social media. So many businesses are trying to leave their mark on Twitter and Facebook. They set up accounts, send out some tweets or posts, and hope all of their efforts make an impact on the bottom line and generate sales.

But as social media marketers (which all business people are, these days), we should always be experimenting, adding new ingredients to our social recipe, and trying something new to keep our followers following. Here are some ideas to keep your Twitter kitchen churning out tweets worth viewing:

Keep it fresh: It takes the right mix of ingredients to make a good recipe. The same goes for social media. If you’re sending out the same tweet every day, people will start to overlook what you post. Keep your tweets interesting and timely. Mix it up! Don’t always tweet about the same subject matter. Make it interesting. Throughout the day, write a couple of tweets about your company. Then include a few informative tweets with tips or news. Have a special offer reserved only for your Twitter followers. Variety is the spice of life…and tweets!

Keep it frequent: The more you bake, the better baker you’ll be and the greater the chance someone will have to sample your offerings. Sending out one tweet per day or a few tweets within an hour might make not much of an impact nor reach many followers. It helps to spread your tweets out over the course of the day. There are programs out there that allow you to schedule tweets to help cover more hours. Sprout Social, Social Oomph and Twuffer are some examples of services that let you pre-program a tweet.

Make it fun: Baking Christmas cookies is all about fun—together! Don’t just send out one-way communiques. Engage your followers. Ask them questions. Get their feedback. Post a survey, hold a contest, a Twitter party or chat. Make your Twitter account fun and something people look forward to viewing. Get your followers talking and they’ll most likely help spread the word about your event and in turn, your company. Don’t talk to your followers. Have a conversation with them.

Make it stand out: Which one would you grab first: a plain cookie or one with frosting & sprinkles? Each tweet you send has the potential either to be overlooked or read. With so many tweets appearing each hour in our timeline, we look for ones that grab our attention either by whom they’re from or how they appear. Try to use language that will get your tweets noticed. Using caps can be effective if you use them sparingly. Write as if you’re talking to a friend (which your followers are!) not like you’re writing a memo. Be conversational. Make your tweets easy to read and succinct. Try to avoid too many abbreviations. The shorter, the better.

Give them something to tweet about: People like to share recipes that are fabulous! So give them tweets that they’ll find so interesting and helpful they will want to share them with their followers. If you just tweet about your own company, you might not generate much sustained interest or retweets. Tweet about what’s happening with you, but also tweet about news, topics and tips your followers might find interesting enough to retweet. Set up a blog and write informative, helpful posts then tweet a link to that post. Make your tweets worth reading and sharing.

The bottom line: Creating a great batch of cookies takes time. Social media won’t instantly bring in big sales. It’s more about creating and building relationships and gaining (and keeping) the attention of your followers. So experiment. Try new things. And alter your recipe now and then to learn what works and what does not. Keep it fresh and you just might find that your efforts lead to followers who are hungry for more.

Tags: business, social media, twitter tips

When I was in college, I studied the history of broadcasting very nearly religiously.

I was a journalism major specializing in broadcasting, but the history of the medium wasn’t covered much in our school. To satisfy that need, I had to head on over to the radio, tv, film department. After taking a couple of courses, one curious professor approached me and asked what I was doing there. Apparently non-majors didn’t care much about hearing about Guglielmo Marconi or Philo Farnsworth if they didn’t have to. But I did.

I loved hearing about pioneers in radio, film, television and documentaries. The development of the technology was fascinating (often various inventors pursuing the same results thousands of miles apart), as was the creation of content. People experimented on both ends: sometimes they made it work, other times they failed (depending on the opinion, Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast could have fallen into either category). The early history of radio, tv and film was one big invention, a grand experiment filled with passionate people trying to figure out how to reach people better to tell their stories. And, I suppose, to use broadcasting to make a buck.

When I was about to graduate and start my job search, I realized something that made my heart sink: my dream job didn’t exist. What I was searching for was long-since over. I wanted to work in broadcasting, but I wanted to work in the early days of broadcasting, when an air of excitement was paired with uncertainty. When the next few minutes could either soar or succumb to technical failure. I went out into the world at a broadcasting job that rarely varied—everything was set in place; it was my job to help keep things moving along as usual. There was a handbook filled with rules and regulations that I didn’t even really understand.

But then came the internet. It was mainly informational at first, then interactive. And now we have social media. It’s new. It doesn’t always work. It can be a source of frustration. Businesses are still trying to figure out what to do with it. People are constantly experimenting, seeing what works and what doesn’t work. Developers are trying to come up with ways to use it differently through the use of thousands of applications. These are very exciting times. The sky’s the limit.

If you own a business, be a pioneer. Dive on into social media. Explore it. Experiment. Don’t be afraid of failure. Be creative. Be fearless. And have fun. Social media is an adventure: a big, bold, vast landscape that is changing daily. And like kids from the old days who bought dime store radio kits, it doesn’t cost much to get in on the action.

In studying broadcasting, I often wanted to go back in time and take a job at an early-20th Century radio station. Now, if I could go back in time, I’d visit college-aged me and tell myself not to worry. That it’s true what they say: history does repeat itself. And to get ready for one wild ride.

Tags: history of broadcasting, radio history, social media, television pioneers