Guest Post by Danielle Koval

We all know that social media is a wonderful thing.  Platforms like Facebook and Twitter have changed the way we view the world, bringing everything a little bit closer to home.  Today we can know what all of our friends are doing, where they checked into, and how they view things in real-time.  I have noticed that these days I care a lot more about what people think of things and places then I use to, and think that it is a direct result of using social media networks.

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the power of posting a negative review in an open forum.

For example, I love Trip Advisor and Yelp; in fact I use them all the time.  If I am looking at a vacation spot, or trying a new restaurant I will read all the reviews I can find.  You can be 100% honest and uncensored in a forum like Yelp because you are almost anonymous.

I mean come on, why would you lie?  If you didn’t like the food somewhere, had a bad experience with a doctor, it is almost your social media civic duty to share your negative experiences with the world.  Your opinion can help someone else avoid making the same mistake and have a similar bad experience.

I have never written a negative review of something, but I am thinking about it.

I am getting married in three weeks to my wonderful fiancé Adam.  Adam and I are both working professionals living in Washington DC, and between balancing full time jobs and graduate school, we decided that the easiest way to get married was to have a destination wedding.  That way we could have the wedding of our dreams, and enjoy a built in vacation with family and friends.  After months of research we decided on a five diamond resort outside of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

Sure, it sounded like a great idea at the time, but planning our wedding has been less than a positive experience.

We spent months planning our wedding with the resort’s wedding planner only for her to leave and forget to relay all of our details to the new planner.  While scrambling to re-plan all of details we were forced to change our selected venues, our guests were given incorrect rates, and on top of everything the resort staff has been extremely difficult to get a hold of.  It has been hard to continue to put down deposits when people you are paying won’t even return your calls or emails.

I know that everything is going to be okay and Adam and I will ultimately be happy with the way everything turned out, but the whole experience has been frustrating and disappointing.  But what can you do?  We signed a contract, so our options are limited. But you don’t have to just sit back idly and take it.

When all is said and done I am definitely planning on blasting to our poor customer service story to the world and every wedding site I can find.

But I guess at the end of the day does it matter?  Yes, it does.  Social media site empower the user and allow them to voice their opinion to the world.  The consumer now plays more of an active role in how successful a business will be.  Negative reviews make patrons think twice.

Hopefully it will help other couples avoid similar bad experience.

Guest Post by Hala Abdulla

It is no doubt that social media plays a major role in our lives today. More people are communicating their thoughts, photos, feelings, politics and everything, globally and locally, via social media’s various tools. At this point we cannot imagine life without Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or even the newborn Pinterest.  And we all know how social media, and particularly Twitter, helped organizing massive protests, provoking historical revolutions and bring down dictators in the Middle East. But little do we know that Twitter also helped foil a predawn robbery and find a missing donkey, as well as locate a brown and white sheep in the most remote African village in the world.

After receiving a tip of a robbery, Francis Kariuki, chief of the dusty and isolated village of stone houses of Lanet Umoja in Kenya, used Twitter to alarm residents, and in no time people responded and the thugs fled. So how does Chief Kariuki do it when there is neither Internet nor computers or smart phones in his village? According to the many sources reporting on the story, Kariuki uses his cell phone to tweet, and residents receive these tweets as text messages on their cell phones because the majority has no Twitter accounts.

It is fascinating how people of different backgrounds and cultures across the globe use these social media tools in various ways, such as in Chief Kariuki’s story where the goal was to enhance security. According to sources, the crime rate in Lanet Umoja went down from daily reports of break-ins to no crimes in weeks, thanks to Kariuki’s innovative usage of Twitter. After realizing how Twitter helped brining security to his village, Chief Kariuki is using Twitter to send out messages of hope to the young and unemployed, encouraging them to spread kindness and be helpful to others. And in the words of Timon and Pumbaa from the “Lion King,” we can tell them “Hakuna Matata,” because as long as there is Twitter, Chief Kariuki will keep tweeting.

So to all those who still think of Twitter as the vain tool that Kim Kardashian uses to complain about her latest divorce, Twitter and other social media is changing the world we live in. it is revolutionizing our basics in communications, and dropping all cultural boundaries. Simply put, social media is our same old way of communicating with others, whether socially or professionally, but now it is digitalized and done with a press of a button, so embrace it and make it work for you and your brand the way Chief Kariuki did.

Disclaimer: I’m Jewish. Please forgive any theological inaccuracies that may be included here. This post is meant as a respectful discussion.

Pope Benedict XVI is Tweeting!

Whereas some people may dial down social media for Lent, the Pope will be Tweeting every day, according to Vatican Radio.

You can click the link for the details, because, honestly, they aren’t pertinent to this discussion.

Here goes.

Is the Pope Tweeting daily a shark-jumping moment in social media or a validation of it’s power?

Shark-jumping is a reference to the episode of “Happy Days” where the Fonz water-skis over an actual shark. While wearing a leather jacket.

That’s been pointed as the moment that the show “lost it” and was never the same.

And that’s exactly where the popular term came from. You learn something every day, right?

So is the Pope Tweeting for Lent that moment for Twitter?

Or does it demonstrate that one of the more ancient institutions has recognized the reach and influence of the social network?

I’ll take the latter – that this is a muscle-flexing moment in Twitter’s history.

I discussed last year that Tweets were the currency of social discussion. So it appears that the Catholic church is buying-in…and HUGE.

There are religious TV and radio programs – and even international networks. There are religious newspapers and magazines and websites.

So a Papal message on Twitter is just the next step in the messenger finding the target audience.

Are people on an international scale (not local ministers, rabbis, etc) ready to receive religious direction and inspiration from a Twitter account? We’re about to find out.

Is it just me or are you interacting LESS on Twitter now than you did a year ago?

With the continued growth of Instagram and Tumblr and the explosion of Pinterest, are the Innovators and Early Adopters going elsewhere?

Take a look at the product life-cycle chart:

There are over 380 million Twitter accounts worldwide, and well over 107 million in the United States alone. Or, 1/3 of all Americans have a Twitter account, statistically speaking. And 100,000,000 accounts are active, according to Twitter.

In social media, we talk a lot about GROWTH and LAUNCH and START-UP, but the other half of the adoption cycle isn’t discussed much.

Each new platform is like a new toy. We play and play and play until we pass out. And some of them we use multiple times. Some of them stay with us for life.

I’m not making a statistically-based statement, but noticing my habits changing. I joined Twitter in late 2008, so I wouldn’t call myself an Innovator, but definitely an Early Adopter. Over the past few months, my Tweeting levels have dropped significantly.

While some people are shifting from Facebook to Google+, I’m not sure if there is another site specializing in micro-blogging the same way Twitter does.

But it does seem that Twitter, definitely my favorite toy, is getting less attention as new items come in to play. Put another way, I’m not spending more time on social media, but I’m spending less time on Twitter.

What about you? Are you Tweeting less? And if so, where are you going?

Several years ago, I created #SportsPRChat, the first-ever Twitter chat dedicated to the business and marketing of sports. Nearly a year ago, I retired from running the weekly chat.

Angie Taylor has taken the group to insane new heights over the past 10 months or so, while I’ve been busy being a new dad, preparing to teach a graduate-level college course and what have you.

I tell her often, but not often enough, how proud I am of the incredible, creative, community-building work she’s done.

And now Angie is looking for a co-pilot to help run what she has turned into one of the biggest chats on all of Twitter!

See the details below – and if you think you’ve got what it takes, apply! Even if you think you MAY have what it takes, apply.

Whoever gets this gig will be lucky to learn from the best!

SEARCH FOR A NEW #SPORTSPRCHAT CO-HOST

Deadline: MONDAY, Jan. 30 @ 12noon ET

Thanks for your interest!

#SportsPRchat is a Twitter-hosted chat that occurs every Tuesday night at 9pm ET. The chat features questions based on current sports issues and communications trends affecting the industry. We post questions that will encourage conversation and discussion, and sometimes, even invite industry professionals to be special guest participants.

That said, I’d love to bring in a fresh face to help develop the chat and continue the work that #SportsPRchat founder, Mike Schaffer (@mikeschaffer), began.

So, are you the new player* in the #SportsPRchat game? I’m hosting try outs.* Batter up!*

If you’re interested, please send an email to adtaylor08@gmail.com with the following information:

1. Name, Twitter Handle
2. Contact Information
3. What is your current place of employment? or, What are you currently studying?
4. Y/N- Are you available to host #SportsPRchat Tuesday nights at 9pm ET? (weekly duties are split between co-hosts, each runs chat every other Tuesday)
5. Favorite sports teams and/or athletes?
6. Where do you get your sports news?
7. What would make you a good #SportsPRchat co-host?

No need to write an essay, but I want to hear from you!

Thanks again for checking this out. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

-Angie

@angietaylorstl

adtaylor08@gmail.com

Social Media and buzzwords seem to intertwined.

Location.

Reach.

Influence.

And the industry is primed for a new era.

You see, the early adopter phase for “social marketing” has come and gone. We’ve identified what influencers are. And now we have mass adoption of the platforms.

Facebook has over 800 million active users worldwide. Twitter claims over 100 million ACTIVE users.

This new era of social networking will be the culmination of everything that came before it. We’ve spent a lot of time online because it’s new/fun/cool.

But that won’t cut it anymore.

Which brings me to the #1 Social Media Word of 2012: VALUE.

Yes, value.

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter, along with brands and their digital presence, must provide value to users in new and interesting ways.

There are literally millions of alternatives for users to be connecting with at any given time. More theater venues. More cleaning products. More celebrities.

The days of just following to follow are all but over – there needs to be a REASON for a page or network to claim your time investment.

Value can be provided in many forms, including:

1) Financial Benefit: Offering free or discounted products through your social presence will always be a terrific way to entice traffic.

2) Exclusive Content: Place photos, videos, links that your network would find valuable on your social platform. Make the content free, but make sure people know where to find it first.

3) Customer Service: Let’s face it, it’s much easier to find a company’s Facebook page or Twitter feed than to dig up a customer service hotline. Make sure your community managers understand the brand inside and out and respond in a timely fashion. You may WANT people to call a phone number, but social media has put the consumer in the driver’s seat of communication.

4) Three-Way Community: People want to connect with a brand and feel like the brand is ALSO connecting with them – while they are also connecting with other people. Fostering a platform that connects users to brand and users to users will give people several reasons to keep coming back to the brand.

Do you see any other key buzz words defining social media in 2012?