You are never alone when you are on Twitter. We share experiences and that are Right Now. In certain moments, Twitter is like gathering around a warm campfire where we exchange stories about the same topic, as we do on the anniversary of 9/11. Sometimes we hold virtual hands during a small or large crisis like an earthquake in Los Angeles. Every year, we review Super Bowl ads as they air. We exchange Holiday Greetings on the day.
The Twitter community often demonstrates social good in bursts of activity. In my recollection, it began with Susan Reynolds’ cancer research campaign Boobs on Ice, publicized each Friday with avatars dressed with frozen peas.
In this 5 minute video, you will see five Twitter leaders talking about their Shared Experiences.
@Pistachio Laura Fitton co-authored “Twitter for Dummies” and founded OneForty.com: the first 9/11 anniversary that I was on Twitter – the story sharing and intense human contact, “twitter really overcomes isolation”
@DoctorParadox Barb Dybwad, Senior Editor at Mashable.com, also blogs at Geeked.org : Sharing the elation of Obama’s inauguration event with people around the world, people I know were in the room with me, even though I was alone.
@Chamillionaire Grammy Award winning successful entrepreneur: Bringing his fans with him into special experiences, like sitting front row at the VMA’s (Video Music Awards) with photos and descriptions.
@HeatherMeeker Director of Marketing at Pelago, makers of Whrrl: We can get the pulse of a conference through hash tags like #sxsw to find each other, know the best place to be at that moment, hear about the best parties.
Shared Twitter Experience. Interview by Linda Sherman, Video by Ray Gordon 5 minute compilation. Filmed during #140t Los Angeles Sept 22, 2009.
Twitter is about being connected, about passing it forward, and about sharing experience right now. While allowing us to build networks for our businesses, it also fulfills a very human desire.
In fact, there are many songs reflecting our desire to be connected and our acknowledgment that ‘We are One’. For example, ‘All in This Together’ from High School Musical became so popular that it earned a lampoon on South Park.
Jeff Pulver: “When friends ask me how to get more out of twitter, I tell them four words: Listen, Connect, Share, Engage.” #140conf
Brian Solis: “The Social Economy is rich in collaboration and friendship. We are defining a new era of society and how we ultimately communicate with one another.”
What are you doing for Halloween? Here’s a twitter story telling event called cthalloween to add to your fun. This collaborative game was created by the great social media story teller: Jay Bushman. Come help create a living Halloween story.
My interview of Jay Bushman, captured at Digital Hollywood Oct 21
Step 2: Pick one of the four character types presented on the game website to portray yourself on Halloween: The Questing Professor, The Tormented Artist, The Suspicious Citizen, or The Gibbering Cultist. If you’re especially ambitious, make up your own character.
Step 3: Throughout the day on Halloween, you will get tweets from @cthalloween with story prompts for each character type. Follow the suggestions that apply to your character, or veer off on your own. Use Twitter, Facebook, your blog, or any online method to describe what you’re seeing, what you’re doing, and how your life is affected by the rise of the Great Old Ones.
Don’t forget! Tag all your posts with the hashtag #cthalloween. This allows us to track everybody’s contributions.
If you’ve read H.P. Lovecraft, this will be especially fun, but even if you haven’t, you should enjoy it.
H.P. Lovecraft was an American author of “weird tales,” and one of the progenitors of horror, science fiction and fantasy storytelling. Many of his stories were tied together by common places, names and rosters of horrible creatures. This world extended to other stories written by Lovecraft’s friends and contemporaries, who traded references with each other. The entire collection has become known as the “Cthulhu Mythos.”
Learn how to Twitter from pros who use Twitter and other social media tools successfully in their business and their personal lives. This video collection of insights from smart people who have been using Twitter for years will help you get started in the right direction. Their concise, key Twitter tips are useful for beginners but they are also great reminders, and perhaps wake-up calls, to Twitter veterans on how to use Twitter for business or pleasure effectively.
Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Women. Interview by Linda Sherman, Video by Ray Gordon Filmed at 140 The Twitter Conference Los Angeles, 140tc, Sept 22 at Skirball Cultural Center.
Basic Twitter Tips from Leading Twitterati Men.
The illustrious group of 11, in order of appearance on the two videos:
@Pistachio Laura Fitton co-authored “Twitter for Dummies” and recently founded OneForty.com. Be useful to others, serve. Be natural. Don’t make it all about you. Share, be entertaining or kind.
@MariSmithMari is described by Fast Company as the “Pied Piper of Facebook”. Pick a memorable user name, customize your Twitter page. Especially if you are a business: know your audience, listen first.
@AlexiaTsotsisAlexia is Web/Tech Editor for SFWeekly and contributor to the Huffington Post (Alexia was tech/lifestyle reporter with LAWeekly when this was filmed) What matters is that you are talking to others, don’t worry about how many people are following you.
@DoctorParadox Barb Dybwad, Senior Editor at Mashable.com, also blogs at Geeked.org One of the most powerful things about Twitter is connecting with people. If you can share it with people you already know, you’re closer to the “aha moment” when you get what Twitter is about.
@AVFlox Popular relationships columnist AV’s personal blog Ignore the question “what are you doing.” Tell us what you think is going to be valuable to us. Don’t have conversations on Twitter unless it is relevant to a topic you were discussing that you think is relevant to a majority of your audience. It’s not a chat room. Don’t tweet back and forth “LOL, hahaha, what did you do today?” There is the DM (private message) system for that, use it.
@HeatherMeeker Director of Marketing at Pelago, makers of Whrrl Send an email to all your friends, give them your Twitter handle and find out if they are on Twitter and add them. Go to WeFollow and add yourself to five categories you’d like to be found on. Find your voice on Twitter, know your focus and goal.
@JulieSpira cyber dating expert, radio show host and author, The Perils of Cyber Dating Be consistent, know what your brand and message is, support other people in the same line of business you are in, spread the Twitter love.
@SeanPercival Founder LaLaWag, Sean helps companies build compelling online and mobile experiences Twitter is story telling. If you are a person or a brand, the story will be different. But you want to move emotions. Paint a whole picture for them whether it is your product or yourself. Don’t just be a marketing vehicle or a “what am I doing” vehicle. Don’t look at the follower number as a metric for success. Quality not quantity. Focus on people that are targetted to you. If you are into surfing, you should have a following of people who are into surfing. A highly targetted following is the key to success.
@Chamillionaire Grammy Award winning successful entrepreneur Know the reason you want to be on Twitter. Talk to your audience on a daily basis. Be authentic. Treat twitter like those are real people out there. Have fun. People like interesting people. You can influence someone’s day in 140 characters. Understand the power you have.
@adnys Currently Digital Marketing Manager for Red Bull. At the time of the interview, Andrew was Senior Producer Social and Emerging Media at the LA Times where they sustain this array of Twitter accounts. Jump in slowly. Don’t worry about following too many people. Follow people that you really want to hear from. Experiment. Ask your friends if you don’t understand something.
@KevinWinston founder of DigitalLA Don’t blast one way. Engage people, get the dialogue going. Retweet. Talk about good things that happen. It’s one thing to express yourself but don’t be a chronic complainer. Tweet the good things. Be well-rounded in your tweets.
You can find full interviews with each of these pros at the Courage Group YouTube or Blip.tv channel.
Linda Sherman’s Tips For Getting Started on Twitter – Part One
1. Choose a Twitter Handle:
Make it as short as possible and easy to remember.
Write a bio in 160 characters or less
Include a website link and an image, preferably of your face, so that we know who you are.
If you are a business, you can use your business image, it is nice to include the name of the person tweeting.
2. Conversation on Twitter
You interact with others on Twitter with:
@name This is called “reply” or “mention”
You can send @name messages even if someone is not following you yet.
D name This is a direct tweet or DM. You can only send DM’s to people who follow you
3. RT Retweet. The pattern for this is RT @name: their tweet. You can put a comment before or after their tweet. If it is after, be sure to show where your comment begins.
If the person you want to RT has not left enough space for an RT, you will need to take time to abbreviate or delete some words.
Lesson Learned: Keep your tweets short enough to easily RT.
Your @username is part of the tweet if someone RT’s you, that’s why shorter user names are better.
Via @name With via, you are paraphrasing their tweet. Put the via at the end of the tweet.
An RT is a gift. It enhances the twitter reputation of the person you RT. It also carries their message to your followers.
4. Following Back
Your are not obligated to follow back everyone who follows you. You can select.
Here are some typical criteria I use:
Unless you are a newspaper or important information source, I don’t follow one way blasting twitter streams. I look for:
- @’s in your stream to show you are in conversation.
- If you have put up an avatar and profile
- I like to see the name of an individual. I will forgive this if you are a particular customer service source that I need.
- That you are not obviously just about massing followers
If you are following for a reason, send a message @username. Apologies that it is public unlike the personal message available with the Facebook Friend request – but it definitely works. Or comment on the person’s blog.
4. Who to Follow
There are various Twitter directories, as well as Twitter search, that let you find others who tweet about categories of interest to you. You may also find people of interest in conversation with twitterers you already follow.
5. What Not to Tweet
Keep in mind that everything you tweet may get indexed by Google and is never erased from the internet. Personally, I generally avoid tweeting about politics and religion (although many people like to do this and I am not telling you not to). I am not snarky nor mean. I don’t find it necessary to make negative comments about individuals although I will complain if a service provider is messing up.
6. What to Tweet
Be authentic and conversational. At the same time, some of your tweets can include keywords that you want associated with your username. Every tweet should not be a link to your website but some can be. Include a phrase that will make us want to look at your website to learn more. Don’t just say, “I just posted link”
7. Twitter Behavior
Your tweet is a micro blog in 140 characters.
Very well covered in the videos here included with this post. Contribute value. Interact.
8. #FollowFriday #FF
This custom was started by @Micah. Each Friday you will see people you follow listing others they recommend that you follow. It is difficult but be selective. You can catch someone different next week. Some people have taken to saying something about each person they recommend. Most say something about the group. If I see someone doing pages of #FollowFriday, I discount the value and assume it is just bait to follow or #FF them.
9. #Hash
Putting a hash, and having an agreed phrase with the hash, allows Twitter users to find certain topics, conference names and other shared topics on Twitter. You can search on words without a # but the # convention encourages us to use the same shared word making it easier to find.
10. Twitter as News
Twitter is a great news source. Use twitter search or note “trending topics”.
There are no borders to social media but sometimes it’s important to build a database of key influencers in your city. In the vibrant Los Angeles scene, it may be difficult to decide who the “coolest kids” are but one thing is for sure, we have many of them. This article gives hints on finding them on and off line.
I recently shouted out a list of who I hoped would show up at the August 27, Digital LA poolside event. I tweeted a page’s worth of twitter names of outstanding people I’ve met at various tech/entertainment industry related networking events in LA. As usual, I included as many women as I could think of. It was already a nice list, but it inspired me to want to know more about who the Los Angeles based movers and shakers on Twitter are.
If you have a local business or just want to build your local network, you need to geographically slice the global world of social media.
Depending on your objective for building a network, anyone in your area may be a candidate. But most people have particular criteria.
If you are looking for influence, finding influential tweeters in your city is a good place to start. For me, anyone worth following on Twitter lists their name in their bio. Once you have identified a full name, you can also reach out to their other on-line points like Facebook.
Recently, Mashable published a good list of services that support local search. None of them are perfect – but after checking each one out, I found I liked Twitter Grader best because it measures well beyond number of followers.
Twitter Grader’s Dharmesh Shah responded to Mayank Gupta’s request to clarify their grading system. “We look at things like the number of followers, the power of those followers, the number of friends, volume of tweets, degree of engagement with other users.”
September 9, 2009
It is worth checking national listings on Twitter Grader because some people that you see at local events all the time, don’t show up on city lists because they don’t include the word “Los Angeles” in their bio or location. Key word searches can be used to hone in on your particular interests.
Twitterholic is also useful. They rank only by followers, but they do show number of updates to help you with your own evaluation and you can get a list of 1,000 Twitterati for Los Angeles.
If you are interested in Twitter influence ratings, you should also be aware of Twinfluence and the Web Ecology Project.
Twitter directory WeFollow has potential to be used for geographic selection combined with interests. They have added location as an automatic category. Click on “info” and you can manually check the self-selected categories. But other than number of followers, no other levels of activities are listed.
WeFollow Los Angeles September 9, 2009
No twitter analytic tool or directory supersedes your judgment. If you are doing this right, you are actually looking at the Twitter stream itself before following.
There are a few on-line communities built specifically to serve the local community. For instance if you want to reach successful, active unmarried people living in Los Angeles – you can go straight to SingularCity or their fans on Facebook.
The best network is not just on-line. Opportunities to balance a tech/entertainment network with IRL (in real life) relationship building right here in Los Angeles has been improving in both quality and quantity over the past year. Here’s a list of upcoming events that I hope will be useful for you. It’s tech/entertainment centric but I threw in the 27th Annual American Wine and Food Festival October 2 – October 4 because I think you should know about that too.
August 27, 2009 DigitalLA @ W Hotel Poolside Photo by Wm Marc Salsberry
This event list was updated September 11 to include what should be a fabulous conference September 22-23 at Skirball Cultural Center, 140 | The Twitter Conference LA. Check out their speaker list. 140 The Twitter Conference conference launched March 8th, holding their first event in Mountain View in May.
These on-line tech calendars also pick up some smaller regularly scheduled tech/entertainment related events: SoCal Tech, Tech Zulu, Mixergy
Los Angeles deserves to be strongly represented at any national or international conference. Naturally, presenters should be not just socially influential but powerful speakers. Those who are selecting speakers or just a “cast of characters” should expect a wealth of possibilities.
Time magazine’s cover story “The Myth About Exercise” made me mad. It looked like an irresponsible marketing ploy to sell newsstand copies. The Time article sends absolutely the wrong message to Americans who should take responsibility to do as much as they can to create and maintain good health. In this case, the magazine’s actions are detrimental both to individuals and our costly American health care system.
I was grateful for the LA Times response and accompanying comments from readers. GrandpaG’s was one of my favorites:
I just finished reading the Time article and was incensed at both the premise and the failure to recognize that any endeavor, weight loss, finances, relationships or career, requires at least a modicum of self control. Time has for years published articles absolving fat people of responsibility for their condition. Time has variously attributed obesity to genetics, brain cells, food processors and now exercise? Weight loss is a simple mathematical formula, regardless of how it may be more difficult for some to achieve than others. Calories in vs. calories out.
August 22, 2009
A major point of the Time Magazine article is that the benefits of exercise are undone by people rewarding themselves with high calorie treats. If this is true for a significant number of people, it is a sad state of affairs.
I do some kind of exercise every day. There is no reason to be starving before you exercise. I have never found exercise itself to make me hungry. I enjoy exercising because it makes me feel good. I’m sure there is some tipping point to getting started in this direction but I am confident it is worth it.
I frequently get asked how I stay fit. My regime is fairly simple, and I do not feel in the least bit deprived. I am never hungry, I am rarely sick and I generally feel great.
1. Lots of omega 3 rich mackerel, salmon, black cod and tuna (not from a can) – fabulous for your skin!
2. Secondarily tofu and turkey
3. Lots of vegetables (moderate legumes and corn), baked yams are OK
4. Brown rice
5. Lots of water
6. Nothing white: bread, rice, potatoes, mayonnaise
7. To the extent possible, no refined sugar, no bread (watch out for Chinese dishes cooked with sugar)
8. Limit alcohol to 1 – 2 times a week
9. Use olive oil, forget butter; nothing fried
10. Daily exercise
During a diet phase: NO carbs at night works like a miracle.
During maintenance (not diet) phase it is OK to go off these guidelines once a week.
I eat sugar-free high fiber cereal with fruit for breakfast. I fresh grind 2 tablespoons of flax seeds and add to the cereal. This is easier than it sounds: buy a cheap coffee bean grinder and dedicate it to this use. I use light Silk or skim milk.
I do not believe in “no carbs.” I do trust in the glycemic index – and with much regret have therefore given up beer and fruit juice.
I also take some high quality vitamin supplements.
Last year, I wrote about how to order well when you dine out.
I believe that we have a great deal of power in our lives. The first step in taking charge of that power is realizing just how much we can create ourselves. This applies not just to fitness, but to relationships and many other important areas of our lives.
We were talking about online personal branding last night. The beautiful fireworks display had just ended. Everyone had enjoyed the food and drink we brought to share.
Fireworks view from Julie Spira’s rooftop terrace in Marina Del Rey
Julie Spira and I were explaining the value of a Google profile to a few of the party guests. Someone asked, ‘Why would I want to be more visible on the internet?’ The answer is: because you are already there – whether you like it or not. A profile you create yourself offers a free and easy way to represent yourself more accurately. (For more information about Google profiles you may like to read this article from Time Magazine.)
We threw this party specifically for Los Angeles based SingularCity.com community members. Julie and I started talking about doing the party just four days earlier but that’s the advantage of an Online Social Community, you can move very quickly. (OK …. Girls Who Get Things Done is a factor here).
Coming back to our discussion about the internet in our lives, Julie smartly pointed out to the internet wary participants in the dialogue, ‘it was the internet that got you to this gathering wasn’t it? If you weren’t a member of an online community (SingularCity) you wouldn’t even know about this party!’
I like to write about the value of the intersection of online and offline relationships and last night’s 4th of July SingularCity gathering would be a great example.
Having spent 20 of my July 4th’s in Japan, which needless-to-say does not celebrate the American birthday, I very much appreciated a close-up view of the fireworks shared with a lovely group of people.
Held both Spring and Fall (coming Oct 19 – 22) each year in Los Angeles, Digital Hollywood provides a forum to discuss what’s happening in the digital/new media space with industry colleagues. As Jeff Nolan from Silicon Valley noted, and I have previously written, Los Angeles is becoming more and more of nexus for the intersection of entertainment and tech, and we are well represented in this international gathering.
Some of the most interesting convention discussions happen in the “hallways,” and at the Loew’s there are many pretty spots for encounters. It was in one of those corners that I had the opportunity to meet the dynamic Hillery Nye in from Seattle for DH.
Hulu Buzz
Recent news of Disney bringing their content to LA based Hulu created some DH buzz. Joel Ordesky and Tameka Kee reported.
What Struck You in the Conversation?
I had a chance to follow up with Joel Ordesky at his June 16 Exectec meeting about Digital Hollywood. He brought up the excellent point that companies that create digital content for the web were going to great lengths to distinguish themselves from “user generated content” when in reality the line between the two is quite gray.
Music and On-Line Video Rights Alexia Tsotsis, David Miller and Tameka Kee contributed to the discussion surrounding this continuing area of concern for DH attendees. Marty Lafferty included a panel video with his article on P2P.
Film Making and the Art of the Cause
Micki Krimmel was featured in this video panel moderated by Brian Sirgutz, with Marc Morgenstern, Melissa Fitzgerald, Juan Devis, and Charles Annenberg Weingarten. Video thanks to Thomas Rigler
Marketing and Distribution
“How to Grow your own Audience: Alternative Methods of Distribution and Marketing for Documentary Films” featured panelists Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Rick Allen, Peter Yared, Slava Rubin discuss “How to Grow your own Audience: Alternative Methods of Distribution and Marketing for Documentary Films” with moderator, Adam Chapnick
Jennifer Netherby wrote about marketing on-line video.
Operations
“The Revolutionized Digital Workflow Experience: Understanding How Information Technology, Broadcast & Entertainment Production Merge” panel video thanks to moderator, Joel Ordesky, along with bios of Jake Winett, Mark Langford, Yahav Isak, Joey Faust, Michelle Munson.
My only complaint about this conference is that Loews doesn’t provide free wifi and one of the speakers told me the paid wifi didn’t work for her. I think at least reliable access to paid wifi in common areas and consciousness for providing outlets to recharge have become standard necessities for conferences. I’d hate to trade out the beauty of the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel so I hope that the venue can make this adjustment.
What struck You in the conversation at Digital Hollywood?
I love a good view. I will often choose a restaurant with outdoor seating. I enjoy working on my lanai when I am in Kauai. I believe that a gloomy room saps energy from your head and heart.
If you work for a corporation (and today with many of us gratefully clinging to any job, who is to complain) you likely have no choice on where you sit during the day. If you are lucky, you can see out a window or they let you work remotely.
Even if you work in an office, you still do some (a lot?) of work from home. When you are not working for pay, you are likely still spending time on your computer at home.
So what is the view beyond your computer?
I decided to post this “Hard at Work” on my Posterous blog to reply to frequent “have a great time” “enjoy your vacation” comments when I mention I am currently at my house in Kauai. It really is possible to work in a beautiful place.
My theory is that you will certainly feel better if you are working in a beautiful place. A view is a gift to yourself. A message that “I’m worth it”.
I am collecting photos and blurbs about your working view. Can you please send me a photo of your view at work by e-mail or with it’s URL on Flickr. Please include a web URL you would like me to link your name to. A bit of explanation would be most appreciated. I will pull them all together for an article on this topic. Please use #ViewAtWork for Twitter, Flickr etc. My e-mail: Linda.Sherman at CourageGroup.com Photos are posted in this ViewAtWork Flickr set until I publish the compilation article.
In the photos I posted from my lanai, I first attempted to take a photo of my computer screen with the view beyond. My MacBook screen is bright and beautiful but it is really hard to take an effective photo like that. So let’s just say we believe your computer screen is somewhere below your camera lens. If your work has nothing to do with a computer screen, please note. Scenes from restaurant kitchens and construction sites are welcome!
If you like, please come discuss at Liz Strauss’s fabulous Tuesday Open Comments Night. There is a Facebook event sign-up I put up (this does not yet include Liz’s traditional network who will also show up).
Here is an example of what I am talking about, graciously provided by Marsha Collier:
I started working at home in the mid – 80s, when no one took you seriously if you worked at home. I wanted to be near my daughter, and I had contracts from retail marketing clients, there was no way I couldn’t do this at home. I had a 2 car garage and moved the car out. I had a big window put in, the garage rewired for phones and extra electricity, put in a drop ceiling with fluorescent lights, put in an air conditioner and had carpeting put down. I went to a used furniture store and got desks. When you were inside, it was a real office.
Ten or so years later I moved to a new house. I knew the value of being able to walk away from my work, and didn’t want papers or computers anywhere where I could relax. Nothing in my living space. So I had a room built off the garage and kitchen for my office. I love it (although it’s dreadfully messy). When the stress gets too much, I look out through the French doors (always keep the side vents open so I can hear the birds chirping at the birdfeeder)..
The attached pictures are from my desk and the second while standing at the French doors. I get a peaceful feeling whenever I look out. I love my home office.
When I met Esther Dyson over 20 years ago she was already playing a very important role in tech. I subscribed to her Release 1.0 newsletter and flew in from Japan to attend her star-studded annual PC Forums in Arizona.
Esther has never stood still. She is an observer, analyst, connector, investor, philanthropist and advocate who never tires of learning something new.
Early in her career following graduation from Harvard, Esther worked for Forbes. In 1974, she traveled to Japan, on her own vacation time to write an article that Wired Magazine referred to as “seminal” about the competition Japan would bring to computer hardware. I can attest that Japanese industry was largely ignored by the press in the 70’s and this was certainly an early sign of Esther’s ability to detect important trends.
She has used her multiple talents to foster start-ups over the years. Companies she has invested in include Del.icio.us and Flickr (both sold to Yahoo!), Medstory and Powerset (sold to Microsoft), Brightmail (sold to Symantec), as well as ChallengePost, Dopplr, Icon Aircraft, PatientsLikeMe, ReliefInsite, Xcor Aerospace.
Esther is wrapping up a five month stint training as a back-up cosmonaut in Star City, Russia. Her father Freeman Dyson, and brother George Dyson will fly in to watch the launch with her on March 26th and then she will return to her home base in New York City. Esther looks forward to coming back to her whirlwind lifestyle – along with the opportunity to resume her daily swim again.
Esther with the specialists that fitted her spacesuit and seat mold
I asked Esther what she took from her experiences in the Russian space travel training program. She is invested in – and passionate about – private space travel, so she took joy in learning to be a space traveler, her enhanced understanding about the business and technical challenges, and her ability to be an advocate for NASA.
She also shared something about her cosmonaut training that resonated with me and – I expect – with the powerful women I surround myself with. She said, “I am not used to not controlling my life. [This experience] allowed me to learn to cede control with dignity.”
Where will her next investments be? “People talk about investing the way they talk about having sex , but in both cases you need to consider the consequences – the time it takes to raise the children or guide the companies to success.”
You can expect that Esther will continue to be a visionary, identifying new areas worth further investigation. Here she will follow one of her favorite mathematician quotes: “The remainder of the proof is an exercise left to the reader.”
Mathematician quotes come easily to Esther, since her mother is the accomplished mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson.
