Carol Stephen, Author at

How Facebook’s Trending Topics Is Like Minority Report

July 23, 2015 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

How Facebook’s Trending Topics Is Like Minority Report

In Minority Report, Tom Cruise walks through a mall while an ad calls to him: “John Anderton! You could use a Guiness right now!” Consider all the tracking devices that make your life easier: Waze, Foursquare, and even sampling software such as Shazam. Now think back to cookies, which despite the cute name, tracked–and continue to track–your location on the web. By trading convenience for privacy, are our lives becoming more like Minority Report? And how does Facebook, which many of us use to gather our news, add to that Minority Report experience?

Is Facebook Stalking You?

Say you’re interested in a topic that’s a little non-mainstream. For instance, chemtrails or robot wars. So you get on Facebook and search your usual favorite pages. You find an article you like: “101 Ways Chemtrails Are Destroying Your Health.”* You read said article for 23 minutes. Did you know that Facebook is now tracking the amount of time you spend reading articles? Even if you don’t like or comment on that article, you are being tracked, according to Facebook’s own blog. Supposedly, Facebook now will show you more relevant articles related to this one.

*Any resemblance to an actual article is unintentional.

Facebook’s Trending Topics

At present, Facebook shows the top trends on the right sidebar, which when clicked, expand into a bigger list. Here’s how Facebook describes what makes up the trending topics: “The topics you see are based on a number of factors including engagement, timeliness, pages you’ve liked and your location.” The description indicates that your content is customized to you. By the way, here’s a recent article I wrote on Twitter’s trending topics.

Will Facebook Be a One-Stop Shop?

Facebook Trying to Become One-Stop News Shop

According to Huffington Post’s article: Facebook Trending Experiment, “the Pew Research Center recently found that three in five American millennials said they consumed political news on Facebook in the past week, and in May 2015, the site launched Instant Articles in partnership with nine major international newspapers.” Trending topics is a way for Facebook to corral its users and keep them on the site as long as possible through topics that are more relevant.

The Tail Wagging the Dog

If you read the comments in most articles about privacy and data mining, most people don’t want to be told what to like. They still want to feel that they have a choice. Even if they do spend five hours a day reading about chemtrails or robot wars, they’d like to be able to jump around the internet at will, change their interests suddenly, and have control over what they consume.

Does Facebook Have Your Number?

Has Facebook Gone Too Far?

At what point will you think that Facebook has gone too far? Do you believe that it’s Time to Quit Facebook? Or are you willing to give away more of your privacy? Leave me a comment! I promise not to track you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: cookies, customization, Facebook, Minority Report, privacy, smart timer, tracking, trending topics

Twitter Trending Topics: Secrets for Using Them

July 16, 2015 By Carol Stephen 10 Comments

Secrets to Using Twitter Trending Topics

When most people think of trending topics, they think of Twitter. But there are trending and popular topics across other platforms, too. If you’re just getting started on Twitter, here are ways to use Twitter as a listening tool. Google, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter all have trending and popular pins and articles. There’s too much about trending topics for just one article, so it will be a series.

Catch a Trending Topic

Catch a Wave

Trending topics can be like a wave. You might see one coming and decide to catch it. It’s not the most evergreen of content, but something that’s here one minute and probably gone the next. If that’s part of your strategy, it can lend an air of spontaneity to your posts. If most of your posts are scheduled and carefully crafted, having some spontaneity can add an element of fun.

Real-Life Trending Topics

Real-Life Examples

Above are trending topics, from my own Twitter account. The top one, about Amazon’s Prime Day, could be used by anyone selling something. You could say something about a July sale that isn’t disappointing. If you’re in music, you might want to comment on Neil Young pulling his catalog from streaming service. If your audience enjoys science, you could jump on the Charon (Pluto’s moon) trend. For someone in the social media arena, Kim Kardashian’s buying likes could be a major failure, and a good topic of conversation.

If Your Audience Enjoys Science, You Could Tweet about Charon

Find a Trend for Your Audience

You might not want to pick just any trend to post–decide based upon what your audience would like to see. For instance, I tweet about startups, leadership, and social media, so I’d want to make sure that those were the trending topics I posted. If you post about cars, look for trending topics around automobiles, tires, car safety, etc., which are fairly common.

Twitter’s New Detailed Trending Topics

As outlined in the Wall Street Journal, Twitter has recently added descriptions under its trending topics to give them some context. Previously, Twitter had a Discover tab (missed dearly by some of us old-time Twitter fans). Supposedly, these new and improved trending topics will add context to appeal to Twitter newbies. For anyone, having some context could be useful.

Check The Number of Tweets About a Trending Topic

You can also see how many tweets there are about a trending topic, although I wouldn’t base my decision to jump on a trending topic wave based solely on the number of tweets. For instance, the #GrowingUpUgly hashtag would probably not appeal to my audience, despite its 104 thousand tweets.

Local Trending Topics Can Be Useful

Change the Trending Topic to a Nearby City

The trending topics can be changed to another city. For instance, since I’m in the San Francisco Bay Area, I could switch from tailored topics to San Francisco to see what’s different. Just click at the top left (on desktop) to switch back and forth.

How Do You Use Trending Topics?

Do you pay attention to them at all? Or just ignore them? Leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: audience, Facebook, Google, local search, Pinterest, tailored trends, trending topics, Twitter

10 Arguments for a Pinterest Business Account

July 9, 2015 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

10 Arguments for a Pinterest Business Account

You may have a personal Pinterest account, that you got when Pinterest first arrived on the scene in 2010 (remember when it was by invitation only?). And you’ve loved some of Pinterest’s changes, such as the move from search to guided discovery. Now that some of your friends have business accounts, why don’t you make the leap, too? If you’re undecided about getting a business account, here are some reasons you need to get off that fence.

The Red Check Mark Gives Legitimacy to Your Business Account

Red Check Mark

For now, as outlined by Business Outsider, Pinterest needs to come to you if you want the red checkmark. It’s a good way to verify whether you’re following a real celebrity or fake. However, checkmark or not, you can still drive traffic to your site. Google takes Pinterest seriously.

Pins and Boards Are Now Being Indexed By Google

Google Search

With both pins and boards now being indexed by Google, it makes sense to have a business account so that you can pin your own content and drive traffic to your website. For instance, above is a Google image search I did on a pin. Pins dominate the search results on Google.

Want to learn more about your audience and your top pins?

Analytics

Want to learn more about your audience, your top pins, and your all-time most popular pin? Sure you do! To get started, login to your business account and check your analytics. As you can see from the above screenshot, I have a lot of views, but views on my website are a spot that could use an upgrade. I’ll be writing more about Pinterest analytics in the future, so keep your eyes open.

A Pinterest Business Account Helps to Increase Your Brand’s Legitimacy

Legitimacy

For any brand, having a business account lends an air of legitimacy. Having a business account adds to your credibility. It’s surprising when a business doesn’t even bother to upload a logo or photo before starting to follow many, many accounts. And by the way, here’s a list of Five Things You’re Doing Wrong on Pinterest and How to Fix Them.

A Business Account Draws More of the Right Kind of Followers

Followers

Just like a business account on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere else, a business account will draw more of the right kind of followers. If you haven’t taken the time to set up your account yet, here are some first steps you can take.

Rich Pins, Like Sponsored Pins, Can Increase Your Traffic and Profits

More Business

With a business account, you can check what your ideal client is pinning, and then take steps to create pins that match those pins and that will be interesting to them. Besides, you don’t want to miss out on rich pins, sponsored pins or the upcoming buyable pins, do you?

Pinterest Drives Sales to Shopping Networks, Like Etsy and Shopify

Increased Sales

With all the ammunition you’ve gathered from your analytics, you’ll surely have more sales. You should know more about your ideal client and what interests them. Especially in a retail environment, sales can come directly from Pinterest. Pinterest users spend more time on the site, and tend to buy from sites like Etsy and Shopify while there.

A Business Accounts Helps People Recognize Your Brand

Brand Recognition

People will recognize your brand and image if they see you consistently pinning pins that match your brand. You won’t be “out of sight and out of mind” when your pins remind people of your brand.

Know Where the Market is Headed with a Pinterest Business Account , Image: ©PBS Works

Barometer

By analyzing the popularity of your pins, you can get an idea of where the market is headed. For instance, you could pin the same pin with a different image to different boards, altering the time you pin, in order to see which draws more attention. The marketplace’s taste fluctuates as quickly as the weather; what you will find within Pinterest’s business analytics is a barometer that helps you maneuver through the market trends.

Who Doesn’t Need More Brand Loyalty? Image Credit: ©Julio Palacios

Brand Loyalty

According to Access Development, “the most important driver of brand loyalty for millennials is a great product at 77%, followed closely by brand recognition and trust at 69% (NewsCred)”. A Pinterest business account can help you to retain those loyal customers, whether they’re millennials or not.

Convinced?

Will you take the plunge and get your brand a business account now? I’d love to know if you do. Leave the word “Done!” in the comments if you do!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Business, buyable pins, discovery, pins, Pinterest, search, sponsored pins

Ten Ways to Be Social

July 2, 2015 By Carol Stephen 12 Comments

Ten Ways to Be Social

If you’ve been on social media for awhile, you’ve heard me saying over and over to engage. So today instead of telling you to engage, I’m going to tell you how to engage. Don’t worry. It’s not that difficult! But it is one of the top questions I get about social media.

Say Hello

One thing is sure. When you say hello to people, they say hello back! Even a casual, “Hi! How’s it going?” will probably do more to get you engagement than tweeting ten articles with links. People like to be noticed and we all love to talk about ourselves.

If you say hello, people say hello back!

Talk About Them

Don’t just talk about yourself. Talk about them. Ask how they are. Be curious. How did they get their name? Where is their company located? What do they do? How did they get the idea for the article they just published?

Thank People

When people retweet you, share your posts, or comment on a blog, say thank you. Don’t simply retweet their retweet of your tweet (did you follow that? Yay.). Go one step farther and retweet something THEY would like retweeted. Probably something they wrote that links back to their website. Here’s a terrific post on the two words that help brand loyalty (guess what they are?!) from Bridget Willard.

Retweet from a Friend’s Website — I’d add an image here

If your friend sent a tweet without an image, go to the link and add the image. They will get more retweets and you’ll look good, too.

Finished Tweet, Uploaded and Scheduled

To turbocharge the tweet for your friend, add an image, shorten the link, include their Twitter handle, and schedule it at an optimal time so it’ll get the most views. The screenshot above is from my HootSuite scheduler.

Comment on Your Friend’s Blog

For extra brownie points, comment on their blog. It only takes an extra minute, and they will love it! Seriously. Even if you just say “good article!” Better still, ask a question about the article and keep the conversation going.

Cross-Post to Another Platform, such as Pinterest

Cross-Post to Another Platform

See a good post on Facebook? Put it on Twitter. Or put it on a popular Pinterest board. Or post it to LinkedIn. And then you could tag your friend and thank them for the interesting article. The tag is important if you want your friend to see it.

Being Friendly Isn’t All That Difficult

Join Their TweetChat

Many people have chats these days. Join in their chat and publicize it, too. That makes both of you look good. My tweetchat, #DigiBlogChat, is Tuesdays at 1:00 pm Pacific Time, by the way. And here is how to participate in a TweetChat should you ever want to join one.

Meet in Person

This is the ultimate way of being social. Once you meet someone in person, everything changes. That person becomes three dimensional. So if you’ve been talking to someone since the Internet was invented (by Al Gore), ask to meet that person if you’re going to be in their area.

What Did I Miss?

What are some other ways you like to be social?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: engage, Engagement, HootSuite, Retweet, scheduling, Social, Tweetchat, Twitter

Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media

June 25, 2015 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Seven Deadly Sins of Social Media

You’ve probably heard of the seven deadly sins, or maybe even grew up having to recite them from memory. But did you ever associate them with social media? Maybe you did on one of those long, sleepless nights. Here then are the seven dead sins for social media.

Lust Equals Popularity

Have you ever known someone who needed “social proof” (also known as followers)? If you end up buying followers, whether on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest, you could permanently hurt your reputation or throw off your analytics. People can tell if you’ve bought those followers, so there’s the embarrassment factor. And when you try to figure out when your real followers are online, all those fake followers in Estonia will throw off your numbers. No offense to any Estonians!

Sloths Refuse to Check Into Their Accounts

Sloth or Laziness

While adorable in their slowness, sloths enjoy hanging out in hammocks, eating fruit, and refusing to check into their accounts. A sloth would rather chill than post or comment or share. By the way, completely automating your social media accounts so the same post appears in multiple places without any change is definitely slothful.

It’s easy to act out when you can’t see who’s on the other end of that post

Wrath or Anger

It’s so easy to strike out at people when you’re sitting in your comfy computer chair, oversharing on Twitter or Facebook, isn’t it? And remembering that there’s an actual person who has to read your comments is tough to do sometimes. But realize that there’s someone just like you sitting on the receiving end before sending a flamer.

Don’t Let Greed Become One of Your Marketing Tools

Greed Is Greed

Similar to social media lust, greed would have you buying followers, when instead the focus should be on creating good content, sharing, and reaching out to others in your social media sphere. If greed is one of your marketing tools, as the above quote from Jon Foreman says, we lose part of our humanity. And become more like Gordon Gecko.

Greed Asks You To Buy Followers

Envy

Keeping up with the Joneses (or even the other moose) never works well. Instead of envying what someone else has done, why not measure yourself against yourself?

Keeping up with the other moose never works

Gluttony

On social media, gluttony is that inability to get offline. There’s always one more tweet to send, one more post to comment on, or one more meme to see. Gluttony results in burnout. Keeping balance can be difficult when there is so much information available. And being focused on quality over quantity is just as difficult.

Pride or Vanity

Pride is what we feel when others comment on our beautiful photos, or our huge numbers of followers. When one of our posts go “viral” online our ego becomes enormous, and threatens to pop like a giant balloon. Pride has been called “the mother of all sins.” In social media terms, if you are always asking others to share your tweets because you think they’re so wonderful, follow you everywhere before anyone knows you, or ask for favors ceaselessly, then pride has taken hold.

Attention Feeds Our Pride

Is There An Eighth Sin?

Surely I must’ve missed one or two. Did I?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: buying followers, envy, Facebook, gluttony, greed, lust, Pinterest, pride, seven deadly sins, sloth, Social Media, Twitter, wrath

Twitter Improvements We’d Like to See*

June 18, 2015 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

Twitter Improvements We’d Like to See*

Twitter has been around since 2006, and since then has improved its interface and its service. With over 300 million active users, you’d think that for that next round of improvements, a little crowdsourcing would be in order. Or maybe they could just ask me. Here, then, are a few unsolicited improvements. Here is Twitter’s wiki, in case you’d like to read about its history.

*And by “we,” I mean “I.”

How about a better chat solution for Twitter?

Blocking

You can already easily block users who bother you on Twitter with a couple of clicks of your mouse. What I’m referring to are annoying types of messages, such as people who only tweet about chihuahuas during #ChihuahuaChat. Perhaps, as Adam Khan suggests (see below), a better chat solution that doesn’t clog up users’ streams. Adam’s other suggestions are fab, too.

https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/610460043700531200

Opt-in DMs

Recently, Twitter decided in its infinite wisdom that LONGER direct messages would be a good idea. Excuse me, did anyone ask me? No. How about this: if I like you, I can turn on direct messages? This would save us all the trouble of unfollowing those who decide that within 10 seconds of following you I’d want to follow you on Facebook, LinkedIn, plus buy your friendship bracelets on Etsy. Because come on! DMs are horrible enough already without making them longer. By the way, if you’re a newbie, here are my Twitter: Top Ten Terms and Power Tips.

"Tweets with #images receive 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites and 150% more retweets."http://t.co/4RiCJwiL2O pic.twitter.com/uJ5cbad9Od

— HubSpot (@HubSpot) June 10, 2015

Easier Image Sharing

Do you know how long it took to figure out how to share an image on Twitter? And then to schedule those tweets with images? Not so straightforward. Of course, tweets with images or video get shared much more, so everyone has to learn how to do this.

Fix the Number One Mistake Everyone Makes on Twitter

Yes, we all feel special because we know that we have to put a “.” or a quotation mark in front of that “@” for it to be seen. But now that we feel special, how about fixing it, Twitter? Wouldn’t that make Twitter a tiny bit more accessible? Because people really don’t get this! Even seasoned users are surprised by this, as Gary Vee explains in his Slideshare, above.

#Discover tab finally goes from @twitter for iPad too. Perhaps, the biggest loss to content discovery for me after Google Reader was killed.

— Prem Piyush Goyal (@prempiyush) May 6, 2015

The Discover Tab

Bring it back, Twitter. It was a great way to discover content! The replacements (recaps and MagicRecs) are dumb.

Twitter Could Take a Cue from Pinterest

Take a Cue from Pinterest

In general, how about taking a cue from Pinterest? Here’s a look behind the scenes at Pinterest, by the way. Nearly every day I log into Pinterest and there’s something cool, such as what’s trending on search (see above), promoted pins, or the new “buy it now” button. And although I love Twitter, I’d like to see more innovation, or at the very least something that makes me laugh out loud.

How About “Twitter Succeeds” as the next trending topic?

Got an Upgrade for Twitter?

I’m a huge fan of twitter. And I hope that you are, too. If you have an improvement or upgrade, I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blocking, Discover Tab, DMs, improvements, number one mistake on Twitter, Pinterest, Tweets, Twitter

WordCamp Orange County 2015: Why Go?

June 11, 2015 By Carol Stephen 6 Comments

WordCamp Orange County 2015: Why Go?

There are so many wordcamps around the world–there are many in the United States, Europe and Asia. So why should you attend the one in Orange County (WCOC)? If you’re anywhere nearby, I highly recommend this Wordcamp. And if you’d like to read recaps from Orange County WordCamp 2013 or 2014, please do.

Everything WordPress

If you’ve been writing your own blog for awhile, or if you’re thinking about starting a blog, you can get plenty of friendly advice here. From hosting to plugins, to how to use a content calendar, you can find it here, or you can find someone to ask.

Everything WordPress

Friendly Volunteers

At WCOC, there’s a non-competitive vibe that prevails, with people willing to offer you their time and opinion on just about everything. The entire camp is run by volunteers, too, so if you’d like to give back to the community, there are many ways to do so. From helping people park to signing in the participants, there’s a job for everyone.

A Huge Bargain

At $40, WCOC is the best bargain you’ll get for any conference, hands down. That $40 includes two lunches, all the sessions, a t-shirt, mug, and tons of bling.

The Wordcamp Bandana doubles as a blanket

The Bling

Yes, we’re not supposed to be all about the bling. But WCOC has such good designers that all the stickers and t-shirts and mugs every year are fab. It’s like a branded event at a million-dollar conference.

Wordcamp Swag

The Sessions

This year, the sessions were the best I’ve ever heard. From Sunday’s business conference to William Bay’s session on SEO, they were each packed with so much information, that there was no way to remember it all. Luckily, there are videos and slideshares!

Feet up at an abandoned sponsor booth.
Shh.
Don't tell.#wcoc pic.twitter.com/SRIgXYpODs

— Bridget Willard (@BridgetMWillard) June 7, 2015

The Friends

Tweeting to my bestie Bridget Willard, I told her that Wordcamp is 1000 times better with friends. In classic introvert fashion, here are our shoes (above). And meeting lots of new friends (see below).

Thanks to all cool people we met at #WCOC, we had an amazing time here and we promise that will come back :) pic.twitter.com/mLxNNbb9LL

— SiteGround (@SiteGround) June 8, 2015

Crazy Inspiration

At every turn, WCOC is filled with inspiration. You might be in the hall waiting for the next session when you overhear someone talking about something you’ve had an issue with. Or out having fish tacos with your bestie when you realize what you have to do next on your blog. Picture below by By Mendel (@ifyouwillit).

WordCamp Inspiration

Controversy

Perhaps the most controversial session I attended was the one in which Jarrett Gucci outlined how to create a blogging calendar for 20 posts in 30 days. And no, it’s not like one of those feats where you work up to it and then slack off. It’s a lifestyle change. Yup.

SteveZehngut shared Shia LaBeouf’s video at the opening of the Business Workshop.

Call to Action

My call to action for you is to put Wordcamp Orange County on your calendar for next year. Just do it!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: analytics, bling, Orange County, SEO, WCOC, William Bay, WordCamp, Wordpress

What’s in a Name: Before You Begin Tweeting

June 4, 2015 By Carol Stephen 13 Comments

What’s in a Name: Before You Begin Tweeting

Choose a Name

If you’re tweeting for a business, your Twitter name should reflect your business’ identity. If your brand is already well-known, you may not need to name the type of business you’re in. For instance, @WellsFargo does not include the word “bank,” since most are familiar with this business. By the way, you might like to read my post about rebranding for startups.

Shorter is Better

On Twitter, you only have 140 characters—the length of a text message—for a tweet, so if your name takes up 20 characters, that only leaves you with 120 characters. So while a name like, say, @PotatoShapedLikeTheStateofFlorida, is funny, it will use up a lot of your real estate on each and every tweet. You might want a long name (especially if you’re running low on potato jokes or your potato jokes tend to be short), but most people tend to run out of space first. It’s just something to keep in mind. Some say that 110 characters is even better, since there’s more room for retweeting.

Keep Your Twitter Name Professional

Keep it Professional

While @PlumbersofDoom is a great and funny name, do you want your followers on Twitter to associate you with doom? Maybe not. But if your username isn’t available, consider adding a location, or maybe an abbreviation of the location. For example, @PlumberPhx could work for a plumber located in Phoenix, Arizona. Or maybe you have a specialty, such as repiping, that you could incorporate. @RepipeSunnyvale could be such a name.

Use an Underline

Keep in mind that you might be able to use an underline or two between your first and last name, or even an underline after your name, if you really love a particular name. So if @PlumberPhx isn’t available, check to see if @Plumber_Phx or @PlumberPhx_ are available.

Names to Avoid

Avoid using names that make you sound like a porn star (unless you are a porn star). For example, @LoveBunnyXXX might not get you the kind of followers you really want. A name that makes you sound like a spammer or a bot* should also be avoided. For example, names like @SpamBotfly @AllSPAMALLTHETIME might also not be the best for your business. Here are some ways to identify spammers, by the way.

Get Real

Make sure that what you tweet about matches your name. So if your name is @PlumberLax, but all you tweet about is cookies, consider changing your name to @CookiesLax, or at least adding a few words about your love of cookies to your profile—or maybe creating a second account to write about your passion for Snickerdoodles.

Twitter Has Changed Since 2012

What If I Can’t Come up With a Name?

If you really can’t think of a name, bribe some of your friends with beer and chips and have a naming party! Sometimes all that’s needed to develop a good name is to get started brainstorming. The worst-case scenario is you’ll think of 100 things NOT to name your business.

Note: You can easily change your name later with Twitter (unlike on Facebook).

Bottom Line? Take a little time to make sure that your name reflects you or your business.

Twitter Has Changed

This post was first published in 2012. Twitter has changed over the years. Here’s a great article, Finding a Better Twitter Experience in 2015. How have you changed how you use Twitter? Does your name still suit you?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: branding, Business, Handle, Name, Naming, Social Media, Spam, Twitter, Twitter 101

Three Favorite Tools to Manage Twitter Chats

May 28, 2015 By Carol Stephen 10 Comments

Three Favorite Tools to Manage Twitter Chats

If you’ve been tweeting for awhile, you are already familiar with some of the more common tools out there. However, you may not know about which tools you can use to help you with Twitter Chats. Many people use the Twitter app on their smartphone to tweet, or manage their accounts with Tweetdeck or Hootsuite. For a chat, it’s much easier if you use the desktop–there’s so much going on and so quickly.

You can use Tweetdeck/Hootsuite with specific columns for your chat’s hashtag and mentions, but specialized tools are much more helpful. What other tools are available to help you manage your chat and keep your sanity? Here are three of my favorites.

TweetChat is a Favorite Tool to Manage Twitter Chats

TweetChat

TweetChat is an interface that allows you to run and attend Twitter chats. Enter your hashtag to start, and login through your Twitter account. As moderator, your questions will be highlighted and more visible to others in the chat. You can slow down the stream, which is handy if you’re on a busy chat. TweetChat automagically adds the hashtag to your tweet, too.

TweetChat Automagically Adds the Hashtag to Your Tweets During a Chat

The screenshot above shows you the TweetChat interface during an actual chat (#DigiBlogChat is on Tuesdays at 1 pm Pacific time, run by myself and @LazBlazter). Note the green “Pause Stream” button–very handy sometimes! I also like the “active rooms” feature, where you can see which chats are active.

Twubs is a free and easy-to-use tool to help you manage your Twitter chat

Twubs

This free and easy-to-use tool helps you manage your Twitter chat. Simply enter your hashtag and sign in through Twitter. Like TweetChat, Twubs adds the hashtag for you, and lets you isolate tweets from the chat. There’s also a handy list of chats if you get on Twitter and feel like chatting (tweetchats are an excellent way to get high-quality followers), but don’t have a chat in mind.

On Twubs, people can join as contributors or members of a chat

Another nifty feature of Twubs is the ability to register your hashtag. Keep in mind, though, that no one “owns” a hashtag. And people can join as contributors or members if they are regulars to your chat. On a busy chat, you could easily miss someone’s tweet, so seeing contributors is a handy feature–though this is a partial list of total contributors.

TweetReach analyzes the reach of your Twitter Chat

TweetReach

TweetReach analyzes the reach of your Twitter Chat. Also use it to see how far a url or phrase has traveled (could be a handy way to see who has retweeted your blog posts, for instance). If you use it halfway through the chat you can get an idea of how well your chat as a whole is doing. You could also pay the $20 to get the full-fledged report with all the analytics. If you like data, you’re likely to be in Nirvana if you see the full report!

Have a Favorite Twitter Chat Tool?

Leave me a comment, below. I’m always fascinated by the tools that people use to help manage their Twitter chats. And thank you for reading!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: analytics, DigiBlogChat, HootSuite, Tools, Tweetchat, Tweetdeck, Tweetreach, Twitter, Twitter Chat, Twubs

Ten of the Worst Social Media Managers

May 21, 2015 By Carol Stephen 23 Comments

Ten of the Worst Social Media Managers

Last week, you might have read my post about Finding Your Next Social Media Manager. If you search Google to find a good Social Media Manager (“SMM”), you’ll find all kinds of advice. However, bad advice is rare! Just kidding.

Here, then, are ten types of terrible social media managers. These people put in the extra work to be really, really bad. And if that’s not enough for you, here are some Bad Social Media Manager Secrets.

Does your candidate send Twitter DMs like this one?

The Direct Message Twitter SMM

The most terrible SMMs send direct messages on Twitter like “Follow us on Facebook!” or “Buy my book!” for no reason. And a link. But the very best of the worst? Those ask you to connect in two places, along with cute emoji, before you’ve even read one of their tweets! Now that’s going the extra mile!

Does Your New Social Media Manager Say She’s an Expert?

The One Pin Per Board Pinner

This SMM is on Pinterest and has boards with one or two pins each. And they should call themselves a Social Media Expert. After all, since it’s on the Internet it must be true!

The “Social Proof” SMM Buys Followers

The “Social Proof” SMM Who Buys Followers

Having “social proof” is a good thing, right? And followers are so cheap! For $59, you can get thousands of them. Never mind that they’re bots from Indonesia, thousands of miles away from your local brick-and-mortar business. Your new SMM prospect should recommend that you buy followers.

Does your SMM Post from Facebook to Twitter?

The “One Size Fits All” SMM

Your new friend should never change their tone of voice, and should use the same post on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, whatever. If the post is too long for one platform, it can break right in the middle of the sentence. As long as lots of people see your posts that’s all that matters.

The UnSocial Social Manager

Your new BFF should never engage with anyone. They can ignore comments, shares, retweets and save themselves a lot of time. There are only so many hours in the day, after all! If you want to know why brands are still using broadcasting in social media, Emma Pauw can tell you why.

The Drunk Poster Sometimes Deletes Posts the Next Day

The Drunk Poster

Drinking and posting is the hallmark of a very successful bad SMM. And then deleting all the bad posts and arguments the next day? Even better.

Is Your SMM a Debbie Downer?

Debbie or Danny Downer

Your SMM should be heard muttering at all hours that “nothing will ever work.” Things always go from bad to worse, people can’t be trusted, and Murphy’s Law always prevails.

The Overposter

This person posts 60 posts in the space of five minutes, then nothing for two days. What’s wrong with that, you might ask?

Is Your SMM Inflexible?

The Inflexible SMM

Why would your SMM ever change his or her strategy on social media? Just because Facebook reduced its reach, or Pinterest added promoted pins, or tweets got indexed by Google? Pffft. No reason!

Does your SMM Use Klod to Measure Influence?

The Klod Watcher SMM

Your new bestie should always watch their influence ranking on sites like Klod (not its real name). That’s what real SMMs do, don’t they?

Your Turn!

What did I leave out? Let me know in the comments! Thanks!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bad social media manager, broadcasting, drunk poster, drunk posting, Engagement, expert, Facebook, fail, failure, Google, inflexibility, Pinterest, SMM, Social Media, social media manager, Twitter, unsocial

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The Klod Watcher SMM

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