YouTube Getting a Social Makeover

Do you remember the days before social media took over the web? I do, but boy does it seem like a lifetime ago. Back then, we used to visit websites that didn’t even have comments, never mind a Facebook plugin that allows you to share the article with your nearest and dearest friends. But as some sites have embraced and flourished with social media, others have lagged behind the times a bit. YouTube has been one of those sites. But all of that is about to change.

A YouTube employee told Reuters that the video-sharing giant (a social media site in and of itself) is about to get even more social. In the past, you may have expected or wanted to see a Facebook plugin on the site that allows you to easily share and comment on videos by using your Facebook account. But Google (who owns YouTube) just wasn’t having it. I don’t think the relationship between Facebook and Google is the greatest, but I think Google is also out for world domination (and it’s well on its way).

When Google Plus was launched, everyone anticipated where this was going. You didn't have to be a web guru or software engineer to know what was coming next. Google was about to make up for where it lagged in the past, but it would do so on its own terms – with its own social network. So far, we’ve seen the introduction of social to Google’s search engine (which is a huge step) and now we’re about to see social meet social with the integration of Google Plus into YouTube.

In all fairness, YouTube has been integrated into Google Plus since day one with Plus’s “hangout” feature. With 800 million unique visitors, YouTube is a huge market to tap. Google Plus has taken some time to gain popularity, but I think we’re about to see it get a whole lot more important. Do you have your Plus account ready to go?

Use Social Media to Find Your Next Pet

The other day, a new social media trend was brought to my attention, and the news brought a smile to my face. Many shelter dogs and cats are finding homes through social media. Isn’t that just a great use of technology? I can’t really think of anything better, except maybe for that guy who diagnosed himself with Cushing’s disease after seeing a picture on Reddit - a find that allowed him to set himself on the road to recovery.

Ah, I love a good social media success story. But, this news got me thinking. Some animal shelters are doing an awesome job at using social media to their advantage, but so many others either shy away or put forth only a minute amount of effort. It’s sad really; just think about those poor little dogs and cats sitting there behind bars just waiting for someone to come in off the street and take them home. If their picture would just get posted on Facebook along with a heart-warming story, you can bet Fido will be finding his forever home very soon.

People just love to help good causes, but they don’t necessarily always go out of their way to seek out opportunities. That’s what’s so great about social media. The opportunities are passed around from person to person until it reaches one that feels the need to take action. From the pharmacy tech next door to the paleontologist in Mumbai, social media spreads awareness. We’ve seen it with KONY 2012, and now we’re seeing it with pet adoptions.

So, I guess the moral of this story is: if you come across a story about a pet who needs a home, go ahead and pass it on. And if you are ever in a situation where you need to spread awareness about a good cause, use social media.

Why You May Want to Take Social Media Classes

Although you may not want to add another class to your course load, if you’re planning to look for a job in marketing, or if you want to be a young entrepreneur, you might want to consider taking a social media crash course. This isn’t like Facebook 101 or something silly like that. Everyone knows you’ve been using social media since middle school.

What I’m talking about here is a course designed by experts for professionals who want to market themselves or their business ventures online (through social media, of course). Social media is just one piece of the marketing puzzle, but it’s becoming a really important one. At the very least, your extra-curricular coursework will make you more appealing to potential employers and give you an edge over others who are graduating alongside you (and vying for the same exact jobs).

There are a few courses out there. To decide which one is best, you should really take a look through each agenda. Here are three programs I’ve found that seem to be worthwhile. I may even take one or two of them myself. Hey, it can’t hurt, right?

Brazen Social Media Strategy 4-Hour Course – This is an interactive online workshop that walks you through the process of creating an effective social media strategy for business.

Media Bistro – Media Bistro offers online courses on various topics and they vary by season, but there are usually at least one or two social media marketing and strategy courses to choose from. Check out their site for more info.

Inbound Marketing Training Program – This program is designed by HubSpot, a company that pretty much revolves around social media. It’s a comprehensive video series geared towards marketing professionals. The best part? It’s free. How could you argue with free? They also have an Inbound Marketing Certification that might look nice and fancy on your resume.

Those are just three classes that I happen to have heard good things about. However, if you do a quick search among the top online colleges, you'll probably find a lot more.

If you have a few minutes, watch the video below to see a funny parody of Alanis Morissette's song "You Oughta Know" that illustrates the difference between inbound marketing and other marketing efforts -- and then, take a social media class. ;)

Should Schools Track Social Media?

Being that a Twitter threat was a possible warning to the Ohio shooting, the question has been raised “Should schools be monitoring students' social media accounts?” It’s kind of interesting that this question is posed around the same time news sites are reporting that employers are asking to have access to employee’s social networking accounts. In that case, I say it’s a violation of privacy, but in the case of the schools? Maybe not.

When we’re talking about saving lives, I think it’s a different issue. It’s kind of like how the government monitors our online activity to help identify threats to national security. Although this certainly can be abused, I think overall, I’d opt for safety.

What people are talking about with the schools, though, is not really an invasion of privacy at all. They’re talking about having someone monitor online activity that is already public. So, it would kind of be like that person is a student, although they may not be. It would be that person’s responsibility to interact and befriend students online and to decide whether any threats made are legitimate.

The problem with this approach is that there are actually a lot of threats made online, especially among students. It’s a hard job to weed out the ones that could potentially be real. That person wouldn’t have an easy job, and he undoubtedly would be wrong every so often, but I think it would be better to have someone listening to the online conversation than not.

If someone had been doing this before the Ohio shooting, maybe things would have gone differently. Maybe police would have been dispatched to that troubled student’s home before he could show up at school with a gun and create the tragic situation we have come to find out about. Overall, I think it’s a good policy for schools to adopt. What do you think?

Should You Consider a Social Media Degree?

When I was in college, social media didn’t exist. Wow; that really makes me sound old. But, it’s true. Social media wasn’t a thing. There was no Facebook and Myspace wasn’t even around yet. To be honest, I’m kind of glad that my life back then wasn’t documented online. There are some things I’d rather not have out there for the world to see. In that way, I kind of feel bad for the kids in school today; but on the other hand, there are so many more ways to network and connect with other students and influential people that the tradeoff might just be worthwhile.

In the past few years, social media has emerged as not only a way to connect with friends, but as a viable career option. Still, the question remains: Is it worthy of a dedicated degree? To really answer that question, you have to ask yourself a few more questions, and you have to understand that any answers are based in speculation. It’s not like becoming an accountant where you know there will be demand for your specialty for years to come. Because of that, those who decide to major in social media are taking a risk.

On the plus side, they will graduate as one of the very few “experts” in social media marketing. On the minus side, they won’t really know whether their education will be relevant in ten or even five years to come. That’s why many students are shying away from social media degrees. They’ll gladly take social media classes as part of their marketing or business admin majors, but most students feel that a degree dedicated to social media is too risky. I have to say, I don’t disagree. Education is too expensive to gamble your future on a concentration that may or may not help land you a job in the future. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think social media is going anywhere, but I do think things are changing so rapidly that your four year degree may become obsolete way too soon.

Anyhow, as I’ve said, it’s all speculation. If you’re thinking about a social media degree, I’m not trying to sway your opinion. I just think you need to carefully weigh your options.  

Don't Engage in Online Bullying

According to a recent survey, nearly half of all Wisconsin students think that bullying is a problem. I don’t that’s much of a secret, but with every new advance in technology comes a new opportunity for students to bully each other. There is a very fine line between free speech and slander, and it’s wise to stay away from the latter. But bullying isn’t just a problem for young kids; college students and even adults have been known to bully their peers. So, here are a few tips for keeping things from getting personal with others online.

1. If someone has done something to upset or offend you, the internet isn’t the place to air your grievance. For one, it doesn’t have to be public. But, when you write something about someone else online, you’re inviting others to chime in, which can lead to some really hard feelings, and things can easily get out of hand.

2. If someone writes something about you online, don’t retaliate. It’s okay to clear up any misconceptions and try to clear your good name, but don’t get into an online brawl; no one wins in that situation. On the other hand, things could get very ugly.

3. Just because you don’t mention someone by name doesn’t mean that everyone doesn’t know who you’re talking about. I see this a lot. Someone will post a “cryptic” message about someone else on their friend feed, and others will chime in with their own cryptic messages about that same person. No one has said a name, but everyone knows who they’re talking about – including the victim of this slander. This kind of behavior is extremely immature (although, I’m always surprised at how often adults are the culprits) and should be avoided at all costs.

4. Block anyone who you think is bullying you online. If you can’t see their nonsense, you’re less likely to chime in with your own.

Do You Have A Social Media Addiction?

Social media has become a trend that almost everyone participates in. But how easy is it to get sucked into social media to the point where you are actually addicted? Probably easier than you would think.

For centuries, some people have been addicted to alcohol and cigarettes. But, studies show that it is actually easier to become addicted to social media than to the cigarettes and alcohol. The School of Business at the University of Chicago studied social media addiction in people between the ages of 18 and 85. They did the study in Germany and determined that people are more likely to give in to their social media craving than any other craving they might have.

The study involved polling 10,558 Blackberry users seven times per day for 14 hours every day. The poll went on for a week, and the Blackberry users were asked if they had felt any desires in the previous half an hour. They also had to state whether or not they gave into their desire and how strong the desire was on a scale of mild to irresistible. Over 7,000 desires were reported and of all the desires people had, the desire to use social media was the one that people failed to resist. The social media sites that proved the most irresistible were Google+, Groupon, Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.

The man who led the team that ran this study said that people have a harder time resisting social media because there are no consequences to using it, as opposed to the consequences of smoking and drinking. The study found that social media has a much higher addiction rate than alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, sports, spending money or even sexual activity.

This research led me to wonder whether I have a social media addiction. Oh, heck; I probably do. Maybe I should start a support group. Would you join?

How to Connect with Influential People on Twitter

If you want to be important, you have to hang out with important people. The same holds true online. If you want to have a good reputation on Twitter, you have to get “in” with the people who are most influential. Once you find yourself in their good graces, others will start listening to what you have to say.

The first thing you should do is identify the influential people in your industry. This is crucial. Just because someone has a high Klout score doesn’t mean they’re a good match for you. Someone may be highly influential about knitting, but you want to influence others about scholarships and grants. That person who is influential about knitting is about as useful to you as someone who doesn’t even use Twitter at all. Choose your connections wisely.

It is true that you reap what you sew. You can’t just start out by asking for favors or expecting influential people to interact with you. You need to prove your value to them first. Start by searching through their tweets. Reply, favorite and retweet things that you find interesting. Eventually, this interaction will pay off – trust me. Just remember that there is a fine line between engagement and stalking, so don’t be weird about it, and don’t dedicate every single one of your tweets to one person.

Now that you have spent some time engaging them, they have had the opportunity to learn more about you and recognize that you are both real and engaged. You can now create a specific tweet that is addressed directly to them. In doing so, indicate that you have read their tweets, bio and blog. Also make sure that you are posting something that will be of interest to them. If you don’t receive a reply, spend some more time engaging them before reaching out to them on Twitter once again.

3 Tips for Using Pinterest to its Fullest

I’m a fairly new Pinterest user and I have to say – I’m hooked. I simply love online shopping and I find that Pinterest offers me a way to tag and save things that I want to buy. Sure, it may not still be available by the time I’m ready to make that purchase, but at least I can remember the style and start a hunt to find it elsewhere.

Part of the fun with Pinterest is to see what other people think. I have board that is completely filled with clothing and accessories. If something I pin there gets a lot of repins, I know it’s a hot item and I’ll seriously consider adding it to my wardrobe. I find, it’s kind of like asking a bunch of friends for their opinion. They’re not always going to answer the way you want them to, and you might not even care what they say, but they’ll tell you one way or another.

I know I’m not the only one with Pinterest obsession. In a very short time, this site has emerged on the top 10 lists of social networks, which is amazing when you consider that it’s still technically an invite-only service. So, here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your pins.

1. Always tag an image with a descriptive phrase. Don’t just say “This is cool!.” Say, “This blue velvet clutch is cool!” Descriptive names help your tags show up in search results, which means more exposure.

2. Create themed boards. If you have enough time, create boards with very specific niches. For example, instead of creating a general “wedding ideas” boards, create different boards for each of your ideas. One might be a black and white wedding and other might be Asian themed. People are more likely to follow boards that cater to their very specific area of interest.

3. Follow other people’s boards. Remember, this is a social network. Be social. Follow people who like the same things as you and comment on the things you like. Getting to know people always helps boost your online reputation.

What Not To Say on Social Networks

 I’m sort of amazed that I keep hearing about people getting in trouble at work because of things they’ve posted on social networks. Actually, I’m equally amazed that some of my friends and family members post discipline-worthy things on their pages – all the time. Maybe they have private pages and don’t have co-workers or bosses as friends, but in my opinion, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. With the new Facebook timeline coming up, your boss can easily see what you posted before you were even friends. That’s sort of a recipe for disaster if you aren’t careful, but that’s another story entirely. My point here today is that you should exhibit some self control and avoid posting things that could get you in trouble at work. It’s just not worth it. Even if you don’t care about your current job, future employers definitely don’t want to see that sort of stuff either.

Here are a few posts that could get you into some hot water at work:

“Omg, I’m sooo bored.” -- Posting this during work hours? Not a good idea. If you’re bored, maybe you need more work. Or, maybe you just need a new job. A boss who sees this post might help nudge you in that direction – with a pink slip.

“People around here need an attitude adjustment.” – Again, if you’re posting stuff like this during work hours, everyone knows you’re complaining about your job. They probably even know exactly who you’re complaining about. I’d love to shout this one from the rooftops: Your “cryptic” messages aren’t so cryptic; everyone knows exactly what you’re talking about – and it doesn’t make you look good.

“We just crushed {competitor} in sales this month, yet again” – It’s great to have some “team spirit,” really. Just be careful about what you say about the competition. For one, you might be eating your words when you see they're looking for a senior software engineer and paying much more than you're making, but it also makes your current company look a little petty. Instead, just talk about how great your company is without mentioning the competition.

“Check out this picture of my new [inappropriate] tattoo” – If you don’t want people at work seeing something, don’t post it on the internet. It’s as simple as that.

"This is the best concert I have ever seen in my life!" -- Don't post anything like this after calling in sick to work. It's not very bright and it can get you fired almost immediately. 

What's the Deal with Pinterest?

Although I’ve been spending a lot of time mulling over the pros and cons of jumping on the Google+ bandwagon, Pinterest is another social networking site that I’ve been watching closely. In the new year, I might just add both sites to my social networking repertoire. One thing that’s cool about Pinterest upfront is that you have to be invited – so, it’s kind of like an exclusive club. You can also request an invitation directly on the site, but that’ll take longer (and be less fun).

So what’s the deal with Pinterest?
You can think of Pinterest as an online cork board or idea book. It’s essentially a place where you can gather a bunch of pictures that inspire you in one way or another. Why would that be valuable? Well, think of how women plan weddings. They might clip pictures of dresses, hairstyles and venues, and keep them all neatly tucked away in an idea book. With Pinterest, you can “pin” any picture from the web and neatly tuck it away into a category of your choosing. Because others can see your boards, you can get feedback, and maybe even connect with other people who have similar taste as you. But Pinterest isn’t just for weddings, by far. You can pin anything and create any category your heart desires. I was just browsing the site and stumbled upon a category labeled “boys.” And, you guessed it, there were pictures of many, many boys. From Johnny Dep to Ryan Renynolds – everyone was in attendance. I doubt this was among the most popular boards, but you get the picture. It’s not always about pleasing others. Sometimes you just need a wall full of boys (apparently). Pin what you like.

If you really get into pinning things, you can download the mobile app and browser extension, which both make it easy to create boards on-the-go. See an outfit you love? Pin it to your fashion board. Maybe later you’ll go back and buy it. For the ultimate fashion and social media geek out, create a custom outfit on Polyvore, get some feedback there, and then pin it to a Pinterest board where it can be shared amongst your fashionable followers.

Job Hunting? Create a Twesume

Most students rely on social media for nothing more than to catch up with friends and family – and that’s fine – but they aren’t exactly using these sites to their fullest potential. You can usually get someone’s attention much easier through a social network, like Twitter, than you can through a phone call. Brands are listening to our conversations, and they’re responding at record speed. Especially if you’re applying for a job in social media, you should consider creating a twesume. What’s a twesume? Glad you asked.

What we’re talking about here is a 140 character summary of your qualifications that you can send out on Twitter (aka Twitter resume). Here’s an example:

Social media strategist with 2 years of experience interning with a Fortune 500 company. Looking for a position in the NY area. #job

Once you’ve crafted your very own twesume, you can tweet it out to all your followers (and ask for them to retweet it to their followers) or you can send a direct message to a company that you’re really interested in working for. To go the extra mile, include a link to a .pdf of your full resume.

Of course, this isn’t the best idea if you’re currently working for an employer and you plan to leave. In this case, it’s ok to send it as a direct message, but don’t tweet it out to your followers. I know, that seems like common sense, but I just had to get it out there. I don’t want people blaming me if they lose their jobs over irresponsible tweeting. If you’re sending a direct message, leave out hash tags, like #job. They only serve a purpose when you’re tweeting to the masses.

I’ve mentioned that a twesume might work well for social media jobs, but there are other jobs that you might be able to get this way. If you’re looking for employment in marketing or technology, a twesume would probably be helpful. Also, if you’d like to work in retail or for an entrepreneur, e.g., event planner, DJ, florist, a twesume might help you here too. However, if you’re looking for a job in a field that isn’t really represented well on Twitter, you may as well forgo the twesume. For example, if you’re looking for forensic psychology jobs, Twitter may not be the best place to start your job search. In this case, it wouldn’t hurt to send out a twesume, but there are probably better uses for your time.

Google+ Do You Recognize My Face?

As a college student, you wear many hats (so-to-speak, and maybe literally too). You have your social life which involves going out and party on the weekends among other things, your school life, which revolves around studies, and your family life, which is pretty tame. On the web, those three worlds can often collide. Mom friends you on Facebook, your friends tag you in embarrassing photos and you post interesting tidbits that you’ve learned while doing a research paper. Most people are pretty good at managing these parts of their lives without any security breaches. But, what happens when they release facial recognition software onto the interwebs? My guess is, all hell will break loose.

The folks at Google have that technology down, but for the moment (fortunately for us), they are using it responsibly. If you’re a member of Google+, you can decide if you want to enable facial recognition software for your account. If you decide to enable it, Google will scour your friends’ accounts for pictures of you. When it finds them, you’ll automatically be tagged. I can’t imagine it’s always perfect, but it’s a pretty intriguing concept. Actually, I can’t wait to try it. Unfortunately, my friends haven’t made their way to Google+ just yet.

Interestingly, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google disclosed during an interview that the facial recognition software is the first software Google ever held back from release for fear of misuse. It’s a really interesting concept. I don’t doubt that they can scour the entire web for pictures of me if they can find them in the Google+ userbase. I’m just intrigued to see what’s out there. But, like most people, I’ll probably want to recover any old pictures that are dug up. I have to say, though, I just glad this wasn’t around when I was in college. Not to make myself sound too old, but most cell phones didn’t even have cameras back then, so I should be pretty safe.

It’s an interesting time that we live in. It all just makes you realize that anything you do can end up on a social network like Google+ or Facebook, and there are more and more ways that it can be associated back to you. I guess that old advice “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” has a little more meaning these days. But on the other hand, I can really see the benefit to this facial recognition software for anyone who is currently in college learning how to become a CIA agent. It will be really hard for criminals to hide from the law with so much technology around.