» Social Media

Analogies to Explain all this Web Stuff

toddoneill — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:59:31 +0000

Someone emailed me a while back and asked me to explain how email and websites, social media and all the rest fit together. So I wrote up this list of analogies.

I hope it’s helpful or at least entertaining. Analogies are my friend.

A site is a house.
A blog is a really cool house.
A page is a room in the house.
A blog post is a window into the house. Some people add a LOT of windows or a lot of rooms or both and their houses get bigger and bigger. many houses get run down because their owners lose interest and don’t keep them up.
An email message is a letter you send to someone’s mailbox OR it’s something you use a megaphone for. (See item 7.) You may also get your email at a post office box (webmail).
An instant or text message is a note you pass back and forth in class. Some of these notes are like the paper you get under your windshield wiper. You didn’t ask for it but there it is nonetheless. You have to pay to pass your notes, sometimes for a whole month and sometimes one by one.
Twitter is like a megaphone that let’s you talk to everyone at once. When you talk into the megaphone you Tweet. (You NEVER twitter.)
An “at” (@) message is like using the megaphone to talk to one person but everyone else can hear you.
A Direct Message (dm) (as on Twitter) is someone whispering in your ear at a party…with a very small megaphone.
“Check In” messages (as on Foursquare and other location based services) are megaphone messages to tell Everyone where you are right now.
A Shopping Cart is, uh, a bottomless shopping cart. You have to be careful because you can get addicted to filling the shopping cart.
Ebay is a wacky shopping mall. One with stuffed duck toys and Ferraris. Everyone is shouting because somebody is buying something all the time. Same warning as above. be careful.
Facebook is the school cafeteria (without the food and the hairnets.) Everyone is talking about everything at once. Some people you listen to and some you don’t. The freshmen are over by the windows playing games (Farmville, Mafia Wars). Facebook Groups are the clubs (like the French club), all lined up at one end recruiting members. Facebook Pages are the “official” clubs (like the National Honor Society) being more serious and sometimes more particular. But some of the less serious clubs (the National Lego Society) have snuck in. Facebook Causes are the charitable clubs (Save the Whales). Facebook Status is the built-in Megaphone.
LinkedIn is for all the Student Council and AP kids who can be way too serious about their work or are working the political system. It’s usually a good idea to keep an eye on them. There is also a built in megaphone.
Wikipedia is the know it all kid that states all these “facts” and after a while you don’t trust him but he’s also right a lot of the time.
A computer is a paper cup.
The Internet is all the strings connecting your cup to everyone else’s. That’s why they call it The Web.
WiFi is (an often free) paper cup that you can use in the living room watching TV or when you stop by someplace. Sometimes it’s nicer than your own cup and sometimes not. You can usually find these cups in bookstores or friendly coffee shops.
3G is (an allegedly) expensive goblet that they always charge you to use. Sometimes it’s crystal and sometimes it’s plastic but it breaks easily and then you have no cup connected to the string. You can use the goblet anywhere, even in your car.

Increase Your Organization's Communication Capacity

toddoneill — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:00:35 +0000

This comes via NTEN- The Non-profit Technology Network. The post, “25 Ways to Increase Your Organization’s Communication Capacity” has some great ideas for making communication easier no matter what kind of organization you have – sole proprietorship, big business, government, non-profit, education, association or club.

Here’s the highlights.

Clarify Your Strategy

Define Your Audience.
Find out where you audience is and go there.
Clarify your key messages.
Use research to establish your keywords.

Automation

Stop entering data.
Use an RSS reader to keep on top of news and trends.
Cross post.
Schedule communications.

Get Everyone Participating

Create templates for regularly used communications.
Have a centralized file system to store media.
Teach writing for the web.
Make communication part of everyone’s job.
Use checklists.

Doing[Social]Media – Social Media Toolkits from Mass.gov

toddoneill — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:50:51 +0000

« Is Using “and/or” in a Sentence Just Plain Dumb? | Main

February 01, 2010

Download Social Media Toolkits from Mass.gov

From the National Association of Government Communicators list, I’m reposting information about a great resource: three social media toolkits from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Thanks to Susan Parker, Director of Mass.gov for this info.) The toolkits cover

blogging

Twitter

legal issues pertaining to social media

You can read the toolkits online or download the blogging and Twitter toolkits as PDFs. (The legal guidelines toolkit isn’t available as a PDF.)

Highlights from the toolkits

Legal Guidance Toolkit
I was thrilled when I read the opening sentence of the Legal Guidance Toolkit: “There are no legal prohibitions against state agencies using social media sites or having social media identities.” Such unequivocal language should help reduce the unreasonable fear of social media that prevents many government agencies from trying new ways of communicating with constituents.

Blogging Toolkit
The blogging toolkit includes a Blog Preparation Checklist which reminds agencies to answer these questions before they jump into blogging:

“Who is your audience?

What business goals can your blog help you meet?

What topics will you blog about?

How will you administer your blog?

What is your publication plan / schedule?

What changes do you need to make to the template privacy, terms of use and social media policies? Have they been posted to your Secretariat or agency website?

What changes do you need to make to the template comment policy?

How will you publicize your blog?”

Twitter Toolkit
The Twitter toolkit includes a Twitter Best Practices list with plenty of practical advice. In particular, I like these three points for government Twitter-ers:

“Be transparent. Who exactly is blogging for your agency? Is it a person? Is it a department? Make sure people know how they can reach the party behind the tweets. It makes a big difference in the perceived authenticity of your efforts.”

“Be proactive. Make sure you promote your Twitter page. Include a link to your webpage on your Twitter account, and a link to your Twitter account from your webpage. Include it in your formal communications plans. Insert it into your email signatures.”

“Be realistic. Twitter isn’t quite as easy as it seems. You need to plan to devote time and resources to active engagement on Twitter. Additionally, building an audience may take longer than anticipated. Don’t let slower than hoped for results diminish your commitment.”

Susan Parker promised future Mass.gov toolkits that will cover YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, wikis, and survey tools. If she posts more information, I’ll link to it here.

Does your organization have a social media toolkit or guidelines you could share? If so, please let me know or post a comment. Thanks.

– Leslie O’Flahavan

Posted by Leslie O’Flahavan on February 01, 2010 in Blogs, Government Web Writing, Social Media, Twitter | Permalink

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via writingmatters.typepad.com

This little tidbit comes from Leslie and Marilyn over at E-WRITE. I’m doing some work for a municipality right now and they just released their “Social Media Policy”. It’s not like these.

I’ll keep my eyes open for the future toolkits that are promised.

Posted via web from DoingMedia

Doing[Social]Media – Social Media Icons

toddoneill — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:13:02 +0000

A set of standardised icons for popular social networking services and tools.

via paulrobertlloyd.com

I’ve been looking for a nice set of social media icons for my personal and client sites. After a bit of digging through the Google Pile I found these from Britisher Paul Robert Lloyd.
There are 60 different sites or tools represented in 4 different sizes.
Hope you like ‘em.

Posted via web from DoingMedia

Social Media Today | Helping You Find the Right Social Media Partner

toddoneill — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 15:54:58 +0000

via socialmediatoday.com

SocialMediaToday has published this free RFP template for hiring a social media partner.
Whether you’re hiring a firm to do work for you or you contract your services in social media consulting this seems like a good starting point to establish expectations from either perspective.

Posted via web from DoingMedia