Social Media is more than updates

Many believe posting updates to Facebook and Twitter is Social Media. If this is true then traditional broadcasting would still be just as effective. We no longer want one to many communications. We crave engagement.

This crave for engagement might be because we are becoming more connected online causing our real life connections to become less.

When we become connected online we begin to create a community.

Dictionary.com define community as

a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists

Community is what makes Social Media successful. While some follow Kanye West on Twitter for his amusing tweets and others "Like" brands on Facebook for their coupons, the successful brands are ones who listen and contribute.

For example, Oreo runs weekly campaigns on Facebook for their Fan of the week. Once the fan is chosen their picture appears in the Fan Page Profile icon.

Then there are those who don't respond to consumers or are defensive and negative. These tend to harm the community.

For example, in March 2010 Nestle came under attack on their Facebook page for using Palm Oil from a company which harvests in rain forests of endangered animals. The administrators for the page caused arguments and frustrated users trying to voice their opinions.

So how should you approach Social Media? The same way you approach the communities you are a part of offline.

1. Listen - You have twice as many ears as mouths for a reason. Listen first, then speak.
2. Think - Sometimes I wish the distance from our brains to our mouths were further. Maybe then we'd remember to think before we spoke.
3. Contribute - Add to the conversation and be helpful. Don't be defensive. Accept that you might be wrong and be open to other opinions.

50 List: Ride in a Limo

I've always thought it would be amazing to ride in a limo. Many of my friends were able to ride in a limo to prom or other high school dances, but I never had that chance.

I thought maybe I would ride in a limo for the first time to my wedding. However, this past week I was able to ride in a limo for the first time! I was in Vegas for a conference. I met several friends at the airport and we split a limo from the airport to the hotel. We had a blast!!

I can't wait until the next time I get to ride in a limo!

How one bad campaign can ruin you forever

Recently, GameRadar.com posted an article about The 8 Most Embarrassing Ads For Gaming Colleges. Out of the 8, our university as well as 3 of our competitors made the list. In the first paragraph they insult gaming schools by saying, "Video game design is the new gun repair, a cash-grabbing "live your dreams" scam which takes urges that really shouldn't be encouraged and convinces people who watch daytime TV that, despite what they're doing at that moment, that they could have a career." 

Many students who graduate go on to work for companies such as Blizzard, THQ, Rainbow Studios and more.

But let's move past that...

These ad campaigns are several years old. The latest date for ours that we have come up with is 2006. A lot of things change in 4 years, including how colleges advertise.

The article goes on to personally attack people who were "quoted" in the ads without a full understanding. Unfortunately, sometimes marketing companies do stupid things such as making up a quote and attributing it to someone who never said it. Did you ever think that things happen in someone's life that cause them to change career paths?

So a word of advice for colleges and universities, your campaigns never die with the internet now. When you end a campaign that was bad it could possibly come back years later to haunt you.

Packaging: Create something worth keeping

I recently purchased a new running accessory. For anyone who knows me, I'm a little obsessed with my running gear. All my running shoes and socks are Nike. It takes me a good month to choose a new pair of running shoes even when they are the same style and make. It took me 3 months of trying on shorts to buy new running shorts.

So it should be no surprise that it took about 6 months to choose a ID to wear while running just in case of an emergency.

After doing some research and finding a coupon code, I decided upon RoadID ShoeID. But this isn't about the fact that I bought an ID. This is about the commitment from RoadID.

It is rare for me to really be stunned by a product shipped to me that I ordered online. This one stunned me.

RoadID takes the time to make sure the package is unique to them. I expected to receive a brown box like all other shipments, but instead I received this:

The back of the package explains how RoadID came about, and thanks you for purchasing.

There's even some humor at the top:

Once you open the package you find a brochure of their other products, coupons and a comic depicting the run that caused the creation RoadID:

How are you packaging your product? Have you found a creative way to get your consumers to share it with others? You have to send your product in something, why not use it as another touch to reinforce your brand.

I received my RoadID about 2 weeks ago, and I still have the packaging to show friends. Is your package worth keeping?

**If anyone is interested in purchasing a RoadID, I have a few coupon codes I can share. Leave a comment and I will give it to you.

Students are addicted to information

The ICMPA out of the University of Maryland released results from their study of students and media today. I came across the study this morning when I saw a headline of "College Students' Dependence of Social Media is akin to an Addiction." The first few places I read about the study said this "addiction" was like a drug addiction. Most places quoting this study, focus on just the Social Media aspect of the study.

When I was reading the study I found not only did they ask students to go with out Social Media, but they asked student to go completely media free! The research team identified 8 sources of media to avoid. These include email, text messaging, phone, iPod/Radio, Facebook, television, internet, and print (Newspaper and magazines). Basically, anything that can deliver a message.

It surprises me people are surprised that students had an issue with this. Yes, students will have an issue with this because we just sent them back pre 1700s for 24 hours.

Imagine for a moment trying to find a friend to go to lunch with. Now you have to get in your car with the radio off avoiding all billboards on the highway to get to a friend's house to see if they are there just to ask if they want to go to lunch.

In the video of the research presentation, one of the speakers said it best. "It's not the syringe one's addicted to, it's what inside." Students have the need for information no matter what the channel is to get it.

You can see video of the research presentation here (skip to about min. 10)

Is technology putting children ahead of the curve?

After church last night, I was talking with a few friends when my friend's two year old, soon to be three, son, Drew, came up showing off pictures someone had pulled up on their phone. He kept asking his mom for her phone so he could see more pictures. I pulled out my iPhone because I had a picture of Drew and his friend Noah from a few weeks ago. Drew right away knew how to push the pictures to get to the next one. He's not even three yet!!

Today when I was browsing Mashable, I came across the new Sesame Street iPhone app, Elmo's Monster Maker. The article included a brief video of Elmo showing how to create a monster.

So how do these to things relate?

Technology is becoming simpler and simpler that children as young as two, if not younger, are able to use. But do they understand what they are using? And what are the implications of children adapting to technology at such a young age?

Children know how to navigate their parents cell phones, how to use computers and how to program the DVR to record their cartoon shows. Are schools able to keep up with the technology to provide children everything they need to make learning interesting? Or will we be able to "unplug" children long enough to memorize their multiplication tables?

I guess my main issue/question is: are children ahead or behind the curve intellectually because of technology?

I would love to hear your input!

Can we unplug the digital nation?

When I was in college, there were several specials we watched in class. We watched Still Killing Us Softly twice, we watched several specials about advertising, we watched Growing Up Online and many more.

Growing Up Online was one that struck me the most. The majority of my life I have been in one way or another around computers and technology. I was not 100% immersed in it like the sixteen year olds today are. I remember having an old Apple computer we had to write prompts to play until about kindergarten.

The biggest turning point for me with technology and the internet was probably around third grade. For Christmas we opened a new color computer, and our parents bought AOL dialup connection for us.

Yesterday PBS aired a followup on Growing Up Online called Digital Nation.

Digital Nation is about how everyone is wired in. People are always using a phone, an mp3 player, a GPS or a computer. The time people spend away from technology is shrinking and soon might only be the time we are sleeping. Which that might not even be possible seeing how I have sleep texted before, and I have a few friends who have as well.

I started thinking about how if we unplugged for just a little longer during the day we could perform better at what we are doing. For example, volleyball practice. I help coach two different volleyball teams. Each practice the girls walk in while texting, listening to music or talking on the phone.

First of all, why a fourth grader has a cell phone blows my mind. I didn't have one until I was 17.

What if there was a buffer in place on each side of practice? Ten minutes prior to practice all electronic devices should be turned off and would stay off and out of sight until five minutes after practice. The girls would then only have volleyball to worry about instead of who is texting me.

Now how can we apply this?

Unplug at night. I know it can be hard. I have tried my best to make sure when I get home to leave my computer stowed away until the morning or only use it for no longer than 30 minutes a night. This has caused me to find other things to do in the evenings. But the hardest part is having an iPhone. I can jump on my phone and do almost everything I could do on my computer.

Buffer your morning. This is by far the hardest for me. Don't use your computer or phone until a specific time. Since I love sleeping, when my alarm goes off for the fifth or sixth time in the morning I usually check all my email from my phone before getting up.

Try this for a few days and see what happens. See how much extra time you find in your day that you think you are missing. Those extra 5-7 hours you want to put into the day you might find.