Welcome to Twitter...Hey! Come back!

by M.M. McDermott

Twitter skeptics have a fresh round of ammo to snap into the chamber. Recent news says Twitter's retention rates are in the toilet. If you go weak in the knees for stats and visual aids, here's the Nielson article. Or just look at the sweet chart we liberated from them:


Raw data suggests that 60% of new Twitter users never come back after their first month. Now before you commit Twari Kari (See what I did there? I'm adorable.) consider that there's a pretty good chance those percentages are off. Many Twitter users utilize third party apps like Tweetdeck and Twhirl to carry on their Twitter conversations; Nielson's data doesn't factor in third party app usage. It can only measure those using Twitter's homepage to post. Just taking a look at my twitterstream, I can see that up to 50% of the people I follow tweet using something other than "web". That's a big frickin' blip in the data.

Regardless, I can see why turnover would be high. The Twitter experience depends on relationships and conversations to survive. Otherwise, you're just screaming announcements into the ether like the crack-addled homeless guy in front of the discount store near our house.

One thing social nets like Facebook do well is allow you to quickly build a circle of friends on their site through friend suggestions, contact searches, group and interest queries, etc. With Twitter, it's not that easy. Twitter's people-search function isn't that intuitive. And more refined search functions are only available on third party sites and online directories, not Twitter's homepage.

Everything's fragmented. And fragmentation can be scary for people. Especially when they're new, all alone, staring down at a profile screen with zero followers. You start to feel a bit pathetic. As a rule of thumb, sites that make people feel like losers generally don't track well in the return visit department.

But I've put together a quick Honey-Do list of suggestions for Twitter to boost retention. They're no doubt already considering stuff like this, but I'll throw it out there anyway. After all, it's not brain surgery. Brain surgery's way grosser.

• Boost people-search functionality on Twitter's main page. Include query elements you'd find on sites like Twellow. If that's too much back-end work, at least pick a few trusted third party Twitter search and directory sites and include links to them on Twitter's people-search page. That way, no one has to go off the reservation looking for friends.
  
• Create a regional welcome wagon. Kind of like the neighbors who show up at your front door with pie when you move into the neighborhood. Appoint local Twitterers to reach out to new members, engage them in conversation, suggest friends in the region, etc. If Twitter ever launches a paid Twitter-Pro style account, give the welcome wagon group free accounts. It could be all the incentive they need to help in new user retention efforts.
  
• Provide a more detailed How-To list for new users to follow when they sign up. This will help take the guess work out of establishing the account and building a network. I think LinkedIn does a pretty good job turning their How-To list into a challenge of sorts - a Percentage of Completion bar like you see at a fund raising event. The more you do on LinkedIn (add connections, make recommendations, fill out profile info) the closer you get to that goal. At the end of the day, everyone likes to feel they've accomplished something.
  
• And to piggyback off the previous point, try what 12seconds.tv does. The mini-vlog site awards "badges" to folks who hit milestones: join the site, you get a badge; post a certain number of videos, you get a badge; participate in one of their promotions, you get a badge. Why not give Twitter badges to users for display in profiles. Give badges to those who reach a certain number of posts, followers, and retweets. If you don't think badges work, then perhaps you've never heard of The Boy Scouts of America.

Even if Twitter never enacts any of these, take heart lonely tweeples. You'll always have me.

Unless you're lame. I don't follow lame-oes.

Other tales of Twitter worship here.

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Ads on Twitter Are Okay By Me

Being a part of the *special* 900,000 users that access Twitter through Hootsuite, couldn't help but notice something new popping up in my Feed.

A dull yellow highlight around the word Promoted Tweet (or Promoted depending on where you look) with a message from a big name brand like Nintendo or Best Buy, brands I don't actually follow.

These brands have paid a premium to Twitter to appear in users feeds via the Promoted Tweet veil.

Like most entrepreneurial ventures in life, it all comes back to earning/making money.

And this is the way Twitter chose to do it.




Announced back in April, Twitter has utilized these Promoted Tweets in a way where they're not terribly annoying, in my opinion that is.

Unlike other websites, where ads appear in the typical right hand column or in Banner ads, these purchased advertisement tweets show up in general feeds and haven't been too much of a distraction so far.

These ads feel like a natural extension of the service, much like other advertisements on the web.

When I go to YouTube, I can expect to watch commercials now.
When I want to read an article on the Baltimore Sun's website, some ads appear about a Baltimore mom making $134.95/hr.
Head to any of the big networks that host old episodes for streaming, and you're going to be treated to the same 30-sec ad from a sponsor at regular broadcast commercial spots.

Okay, so those are annoying, but we still use those services. Following this line of logic, I wouldn't expect Twitter users to be bothered by this new form of advertising.

I've done searching on Twitter, and am finding that few seem to share my apathetic attitude toward these ads:




Maybe I'm just not getting hit as hard as other users, but I really don't think these Promoted Tweets are the devil.

If anything, they're a smart way of reaching Twitter users with brand messaging. At least we're not being forced to watch a :30 sec Dove spot everytime we refresh our feed.

Jury's still out on all of this. What do you think about Promoted Tweets on Twitter?

Sean Sutherland, Associate Account Executive/Promoted Tweeter (not really)

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How to be a social media jerkhole: Follow everyone who follows you on Twitter.

In a perfect world, there's nothing wrong with returning a favor. Being cordial and such. But Twitter's not the real world. It's a bizarro world where people take pictures of lunch and share it with friends. It's a good world. A world you should be a part of - particularly in this business. But a strange world.

And while reciprocity is a cornerstone of social media, it's also the conduit for spammers to get in your face, kinda like a little kid who sneezes in your mouth when trying to give you a hug. See, spammers are brilliant bastards. Where there's a channel available to reach people, there'll be someone looking to abuse it in bulk.

Blindly following them is part of the problem. It encourages them. And it makes it a lot harder for spammers to push the Follower/Following threshold that Twitter uses to keep spam out.

So don't do it. Be more selective. No one likes a followslut. Before you go following someone like @$workathome on Twitter, use a vetting process. Don't have one? Here's what I look for before I give my love away:

1. Follower-to-Following Ratio. Not the end all be all, but it's a good start. If they are following WAY more people than are following them back, think twice. It's probably not worth it. Their account'll probably be suspended by Twitter for violating TOS anyway. On the other hand, if someone has more followers than the number of folks they're following, it could mean that they are a valuable source of info and conversation, and that they don't give freely of their attention. Or it could mean they follow a crap-ton of people, then ditch them later on to make their follow-ratio look good - kinda like the cheerleader who dates the lovable dork, but then totally stands him up to go to prom with the quarterback. Or something.

2. Profile Page. Did the user build a bio? Are they using the default Twitter avatar? Or did they take time to upload a picture? Is there a background design? Spammers deal in bulk and rarely build this stuff out. If I don't see any effort to build a profile, I don't follow.

3. Location. I'm a homer. I admit it. Even if the Orioles waterproof the basement of the American League East for the rest of my life, I'll continue to root for them. And for Baltimore. If you're from my town, you get preferential treatment. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt because there's a better likelihood that you'll have something to say that interests me, whether it's recommending a local coffee shop or suggesting places around town not to get shot.

4. Tweet Content. I look for a good mix of retweet, @ mentions, and link sharing. It tells me that the user reads and shares others' content, has conversations, and posts potentially interesting information. They could be worth a follow. If any of their tweets include the phrases "making money from home", "look at my pictures", or "social media expert": run.

5. Frequency of retweets. I like an active tweeter. What I can't stand is someone who tweets incessantly and clogs my twitter stream. It gets exhausting to follow. Set a tolerance level - how many tweets are you willing to see from this person per hour? For me, if you tweet more than 6 times per hour consistently, I won't follow.

6. API. If I'm still on the fence, I check the API (Application Programming Interface) the user's broadcasting their tweets over. Are they using Tweetdeck? The web? Twitterfeed? That can help give you clues as to whether this is simply an account that rebroadcasts RSS feeds or is manned by a sentient being. I prefer to follow people who talk back.

So, what's your process? How do you determine which followers make the cut and which ones can go pound spam?

Previously in How To Be a Social Jerkhole: Talk about yourself all the time.

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Twittery Twitterness: The Daily Show's tweet release; Google CEO shakes fist, tells Twitter to get the hell off his lawn.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Twitter Frenzy

Daily Show Full Episodes
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Political Humor
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Jon Stewart's curmudgeonly take on Twitter is echoed (for real) by Google CEO/Professional Twitter-hater Eric Schmidt.

Calling it the "poor man's email system", Schmidt manages to not only alienate millions of Twitter users, but also look like a titanic dufus when he confuses the character limits in a tweet with those of mobile text. After hearing that, I suppose this makes more sense now:

(picture clickin von biggun)

Previous Twitter worship in this space.

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Friday Ad Haiku: Twitter

Damn. It's been some time since we got all 5-7-5 on your behinds. Been busy around here, grinding it out as of late. New biz. New pitches. New projects. Sure, it's great. But it really cramps my efforts to be as unbillable as humanly possible. Luckily, there's still Twitter to kill my timesheet ratios.

Actually, Twitter's been popping up in a lot of conversations lately, both at the agency and with some of our clients. Twitterer coverage of the airliner splash-down in the Hudson has certainly enticed the mainstream media consumer to consider the app's value beyond simply stalking interesting strangers and sharing TwitPics of what you're eating for lunch (by the way, both are excellent wastes of time).

Folks are starting to see some of the multi-layered benefits of Twitter, including its role as a raw source for breaking news and its impact as a conversation amplifier - both in reach and in immediacy. Just take a look at how the Twitter world lit up like a Christmas tree during the presidential inauguration.

Here's to living life, 140 characters at a time.

@boss fired me 4
twittering 2 much. here's a
picture of my lunch.

Previously in the Friday 5-7-5: Holiday Cards

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Intern Sweatshop: How Do You Using Social Media?

I remember when I thought that Facebook was pointless. I had the idea it was only used for people who were in college, and I wasn’t in school so I didn’t see a reason to sign up. People convinced me to check it out, and told me that more than just students were using it. Now my mother posts more on Facebook than I do.

The point is that everyone is using social media today, and it is used for more than just telling people what is on your mind. Social media can be used for many different reasons including locating people, gathering information, advertising, as a resume of sorts, but most importantly as a tool to connect with other people.

Think of what happened in Egypt as a prime example. A Google executive Wael Ghonim started a Facebook page that called for protests on January 25th, which is now known as the “Day of Wrath.” He called for the protests in response to the violent beating death of an Egyptian businessman, who was beaten to death after he planned on exposing corruption in the government. The page was named after the man who died, and was called “We are all Khaled Said.” Ghonim was arrested on January 28th and was released twelve days later. The rest is history.

I remember following a New York Times list on Twitter that posted people live in Tahrir Square as the news Mubarak had stepped down. One woman posted that she couldn’t stop laughing and crying at the same time, and I could follow Egyptian’s reactions as they were happening in real-time. It was so moving that I almost cried myself.

Ghonim used social media to broadcast his message, and gather people to form a revolution. This has spawned many other similar events in the Middle East such as Libya, Bahrain, and Yemen; and others are just now beginning to quell into a true social movement for change.

Social media allows for someone to get a message out quickly, and to a large number of people. Word spreads quickly on Facebook and Twitter, and news is almost instantaneous. With the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan the news of the event came from social media first, with the actual news second going so far as to cite what they were seeing on Twitter as sources.

What do you think it would have been like on 9/11 if Facebook and Twitter were around then, and were used in the capacity that they are today? It could have been much easier for people to find out if their loved ones were okay via social media avenues. Imagine if social media was around during the times of the Titanic?

It is clear that social media is changing the way that information is disseminated. The news that Michael Jackson died shut down Twitter for a short period of time. This is an example of how often today people get their news from social media and from their friends. Who better to trust than your friends on social media?
Advertising has been changed tremendously and most companies now have social media sites. Even so, some companies have yet to utilize this avenue effectively for marketing purposes, they are left trying to answe the question: How does a Facebook page actually translate to sales?


The bottom line is that social media has an enormous impact on how societies today communicate with each other. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, and it is continuing to grow. It has become an avenue for unprecedented open communication. I think we have just now tipped the iceberg for how it will be used in the future. The question is… how do you use social media?

Robert Devereux , Account Executive Intern/Inquisitive Soul

Last Heard on the Intern Sweatshop: Apparently Our Custmers Like Our Crappy Commercials

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Twitter's Dirty Bird

Twitter works because of its simplicity. The only complex part of it is how the individual uses it - meeting people, breaking news, sharing information, or droning on about your grey, empty life and the insignificant events that comprise it.

Of course, the fact Twitter has a wellspring of 3rd party applications that are actually useful is a leg up, particularly interfaces like Tweetdeck, Twhirl, and Digsby. But I also have a roll of quarters in my pocket for the myriad of apps that exist solely for entertainment or ego's sake.

Here's a pretty sweet list of Twitter tools guaranteed to suck you in like a gaggle of geese into jet turbine of unproductivity.


From the list, my new favorite: Cursebird (actually found this first via Geo. Parker over at AdScam). Cursebird's a little Twitter search engine that scours a user's tweets for instances in which they've bandied about an expletive - from the tame to the "Queen Mother of all dirty words." Then, it ranks the user on a cuss-scale of 1-100. I was impressed that, out of 4 million-odd users, I ranked a solid 13,969 with a score of 96.

Probably my best score since finger-painting was graded.

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Intern Sweatshop: Wheat Thins > Kryspy Kreme

You’re sitting in your house watching reruns of Home Improvement when someone knocks on your door. To your surprise, a man quoting your tweet, “I love wheat thins and tuna,” drops off a pallet of snacks. That’s how Wheat Thins and their “Crunch is Calling” social media-driven campaign, brought to you by The Escape Pod, works. Kraft Foods/Nabisco’s intentions are focused on engaging a new target audience of women and men ages 25-45, an audience vastly different than their traditional consumer base of women 45 and older.



The broadcast commercials themselves are humorous and awkward for the posters/tweeters, who are ambushed by the crew. There’s also the possibility of having your picture on the box or a whole pallet of Wheat Thins--your own 30 seconds or so of fame.



Wheat Thins’ big problem was that their traditional consumers thought of them as “just a traditional cracker.” And with a different market segment for a product that had become “too familiar” another approach was necessary. Through consumer research it was found that the crunch, flavor and texture were key attractions to the new, younger audience. So in order to bring these qualities to their audience, reinforce their brand identity, and more actively engage and interact with customers, Wheat Thins turned to social media with the hope that this new campaign would stimulate comments on Facebook and Twitter and have consumers follow the brand there as well.

This reminds me of how popular Krispy Kreme donuts were back in the late 90s and early 00s. Everyone and their parents were raving about these airy donuts that were served hot and only available in the southern states. When Krispy Kreme stores opened, cars were wrapped around the outside of stores for blocks, waiting patiently for their chance to indulge. After everyone stuffed themselves, the product reached a saturation point, the hype ended and Kryspy Kreme's became just another donut. The novelty wore off. Now, I certainly enjoy donuts and milk, even though it’s been a while since I’ve had them. It’s like I forgot how awesome they are in the morning. But again, what was once a go-to morning delight is just something else to have for breakfast. And I can't say I'm not thinking about buying one while writing this, but I can’t say if that will translate into a purchase sometime soon.

Now Chick-Fil-A’s Free Breakfast Thursdays is yet another example of a company staying in touch with their customers. There was also the “I Can Handle The Heat” campaign, where just uttering those words at Chik-Fil-A would earn you a free sandwich. Then there’s the Get Spicy Chicken and Nuggets Campaign, where customers signed up online to receive a free order. Some of the campaigns included an in-store survey for direct feedback taken after the customer indulged in the free chicken delights. If you doubt the success of customer engagement, they opened 80 new restaurants in 2010 and raked in $3.5 billion in sales.

Now, merely posting on Twitter about their love of Wheat Thins may keep the brand current in customers' minds. It will be interesting to see if the campaign helps Wheat Thins remain relevant to their new target audience, or if people will still see the Wheat Thin as "just a traditional cracker." But For Twitter user 7hr33 who wrote “Leprechauns broke into my apartment stole a box of Wheat Thins I was saving for a party...is there a warranty for this?” March 17th is right around the corner. You might want to be on the lookout for a little Irish guy bearing crunchy treats. I'd want to see that commercial.

--Stephen Telljohann, Creative Department Intern with Crunch, Flavor and Texture

Last Time on the Intern Sweatshop: How Ben Found the Secret to Internet Buzz

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Mad Men's Twittergate

I got to thinking recently. For the good of mankind, this doesn't happen often.

It was about AMC's short-lived (and short-sighted) temper tantrum over the Twitter accounts that popped up featuring characters from Mad Men. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, stop reading now and click on this video of a guy falling off a ladder; you'll enjoy it more.

So, I was thinking. This could be one of the first bonafide shots across the bow of that recently launched little sailboat we like to call social media. While no one can honestly say where it's headed, we can be sure it'll sink a lot of brands if they continue to approach it like a guy playing the piano wearing catcher's mitts.

Don't get me wrong. Twitter isn't the Second Coming. Hell, 90% of the people I've spoken to have never heard of it. But it's an important piece of brand conversation, and more importantly, it's a perfect platform for consumer evangelism. With Mad Men, you've got fans so rabid for the franchise that they're willing to spend time talking about it, immersing themselves in it. So naturally, you do the logical thing: sic the lawyers on 'em (well, on Twitter anyway).

It's sad and absurd. So many brands still can't grasp the notion that, to bring in the ever-evolving consumer, they have to let the consumer take over the conversation now and then. Let out the trot line a little. Take a risk.

Part of forging any lasting relationship is conceding some control.

It's about trust. It's about caring as much about a customer's satisfaction as they do about their money. And it's what will separate their business model from that of prostitutes and pyramid schemes. Because, you know, they have business models, too.

Speaking of Mad Men: The Real (Lame-o) Sterling-Cooper; Don Draper gets me hot and bothered; Mad, black, and not gonna take it anymore.

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Twitter Billboard: When Social Media Attacks

It seemed like a solid concept: A news station in Alabama decided to pipe their Twitter feed into their electronic billboard to update passersby with their latest stories of the day. Can't disagree with the intention.

After all, social media works best when it's a part of a coordinated marketing effort that includes a mix of tactics. New media and traditional go well together. Like new beer and old wine. That's good, right?

The station makes a living breaking brand-spanking news. And they figured, Twitter's great at doing that.

Unfortunately, it's also great at biting the unwitting in the ass publicly:


No one ever suspects the smiling, clean-cut, racially harmonic news anchor team next door.


Kinda reminds you of those old contextual ad horror stories (that still happen).

Other ad fails: Van Wrap F-Up; Bowling doesn't translate well.

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Friday Ad Haiku: Filchbook

You know you're on to something when Facebook wunderkind Mark Zuckerburg pilfers what makes your utility great. Twitter, as if it needed the validation, was obviously the primary inspiration for Facebook's face lift - namely the addition of a real-time friend stream and a reworking of the status window.

(Click pic=big pic)

Personally, I'm not impressed. Using Facebook is the social network equivalent of unhooking a bra on prom night: full of good stuff, but way more complicated than it should be. A parade of sketchy apps and pokes and super pokes and ultra-craptomic pokes. Sure, I still use it frequently, but it's more in spite of all the moving parts, not because of them. Unfortunately, every step Facebook takes to be more like Twitter gets it that much further from what makes it unique.

Social behemoth.
Useless apps. Still, how else would
I stalk old classmates?


Previously in the Friday 5-7-5: Responding to a-hole blog comments

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C'mon, Brands!

We've all seen it happen.

An errant, rogue tweet appears and it is SUPER-EFFECTIVE, causing stunned silence and shaking heads. Within minutes, negative comments and tweets flood in condemning the brand and the offending update.

Quicker than you can hit the "Prnt Scrn" button, the offending Brand's social media teams scramble to investigate and eliminate, hoping that they can spare themselves and the company they represent from any damages caused by the thoughtlessness of a single ill-conceived tweet.


I understand the issues at play here; when I first got my smart-phone I was constantly updating my Facebook or Twitter just because I had thought of something interesting or funny. And, with advances in science and technology, instead of having to wait until I got back to my laptop or computer, I can just instantly record this apparently brilliant thought through my phone.

Maybe that’s exactly the problem- the ability to update social media sites as soon as the thought passes our brains. We no longer have a chance to realize that our clever post may not be as funny as we originally thought.

This seems to be happening a lot lately: companies or brands pulling a social media ‘faux pas’ and then scrambling to apologize and move past it.

In a world where communications can happen instantly and literally everything you've done online has the potential to live eternally, why are brands/companies not giving their updates a second thought before hitting the post button?

Pardon me if I borrow a bit from SportsCenter's “C'mon, Man!” but it makes me want to shout: "C'mon, Brands!"

Entenmann’s, more known for delicious donuts and cakes than for its social media presence, is the latest to put its virtual foot in its mouth with their #notguilty tweet.

Without question the Casey Anthony case is a sad, sad event. When news hit earlier this month of the not guilty verdict, everyone was weighing in on Twitter about the verdict using the #notguilty hashtag.

Entenmann’s social team, obviously looking for any opportunity to get their brand more visibility, concocted the following misguided tweet.

After taking a second to allow their brains to catch up with their fingers, they removed the tweet and not only apologized in a follow-up tweet but also in a second tweet with a note saying how sincerely sorry they were for offending people.

C’mon, Brands!

How many times is this going to happen?

How long until companies learn to predict what people will find funny and what they’ll find offensive?

Judging by the high frequency with which this has been happening lately, I speculate that it will be a long time before brands get wise and realize they can’t piggy back on hashtags to build their audiences and need to watch what they tweet.

Brands need to build their audiences the old fashioned way: by being responsive and forthcoming with content; not shoot for an “ironic-cool” vibe by making light of a serious issue.

With the amount of news-coverage that happens after all of these mistake tweets, you’d think that companies would learn from their compatriots and tighten the belts on their social media teams.

For some freakin’ reason, they don’t.

C’mon, Brands!

Simply put – go back to a simpler time and think before you tweet or update your company’s social media presences. Doesn't anyone remember what happened to Imus?
Despite how quickly you believe you can post and delete an update, someone can just as fast take a screenshot and upload it anywhere they want.

It’s great that you’re on those channels to begin with, just remember to play by the rules like everyone else. Or, do what you want, and enjoy the backlash.

Either way, we'll all be waiting and watching for the next Kenneth Cole...

Sean Sutherland, Associate Account Executive/Keyshawn Johnson Imitator

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Intern Sweatshop: or How Ben Found the Secret to Internet Buzz

Fact: The internet is a great marketing tool.

Did I just blow your mind? Ok, so that wasn't exactly groundbreaking news. The internet's ability to cause buzz and spread things like wild fire is not lost on advertisers. But, the internet is a fickle place and getting your product/client/brand talked about and spread around takes something special. Here is an example.

Ben the Bodyguard is a grizzled, streetsmart Frenchman who knows about the seedy side of things. He has made a living keeping things hidden that need to stay hidden. Ben's most unique biographical tid-bit, however, is that he's an iPhone app.

Developed by Nerd Communications, Ben the Bodyguard is an upcoming way to keep the things you keep on your iPhone protected. And their marketing efforts are amazing.

First, personifying this piece of software was a stroke of brilliance. The app's job is to protect you, making it a "person" adds an extra, unconcious level of comfort. People are increasingly wary of technology's slow theft of our privacy, so helping us relate to a piece of software also helps us trust it.

Secondly, they gave Ben an intruiging personality and spread it through out their advertising. Their Twitter feed is written as if it is Ben himself tweeting. Their Facebook page is set up as a personal page, not a business page. You can't "like" Ben, you can "friend" him. Then there is their website. Oh man, their website. It went live last Thursday, and the internet exploded with links to the site. If you search Ben the Bodyguard on Twitter, it is still getting passed around a week later. I will now link you to the website and you can see why people are still talking about it. I warn you though, now I am going to blow your mind.

http://benthebodyguard.com/index-b.php


Kyle Sacks, Intern. Going to buy Ben when he comes out.

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Twitter was so much simpler in the 1930s

Use your computing machine's navigation tool to "click" on the photograph for extra-ordinary size. Bully!

Further proof that the Greatest Generation really was the greatest generation: They invented Twitter.

Everyone just pack up and go home. Millennials, turn the light off before you leave.

(via Modern Mechanix by way of Urlesque.)

Other old timeyness: Branded content in 80s; His Master's Voice

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Trust Me vs. Mad Men: A Visual Review

Things happen when you click the photo.

UPDATE: Just after posting, we got a Twitter follow from TNT's Seth Miller. Now that's the immediacy and interactive sexiness of social media, friends. Good to see the folks over at Turner have a sense of humor. He's got some decent stuff, so give him a follow @tntweknowdrama. If you're, you know, into that kinda thing. Note to A&E: This is how you handle twitter buzz.

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Pat Yourself on the Back, Internet!

There's something about the Internet. (See also: interwebs)

Yes, it's true that there are plenty of bad, evil things on the Internet. (See also: trolls, Nigerian Prince scams, dog's speaking English)

But at the same time there can exist a great force of good; a place where destruction, ridicule, and trolling just simply don't happen.

You can look at three recent examples of this.

Golden Ted
First up, the homeless man with the "Golden Voice." When his story hit the interpipes immediately the people got to working and now Ted Williams has another chance at making his life right. Huge kudos to the redditors of Reddit for pushing this story.

Red Cross: #gettngslizzerd.
This was an interesting, easily overlooked story. Gloria Huang, a Social Media specialist with the Red Cross, mistakenly tweeted on Red Cross' twitter account instead of her own, shout out to Hootsuite. Despite the "rogue tweet" getting removed by Red Cross, Michael Hayek from Dogfish Head Brewery took it upon himself to rally Dogfish Head beer fans and create a donation campaign for the Red Cross built off of the #gettngslizzerd hashtag.



No Red Cross parody twitter accounts rose from this, just a lot of people hearing the call to action from a beloved brand and doing what they could to make light of a simple, permissions error. Red Cross got donations, Dogfish Head got brand recognition, and Hootsuite even sent everybody some coozies!

Not bad, Internet.

RoboCop Comes Home (or Take that Mayor Bing, the People want Murphy)
Dead or alive, you're coming to Detroit (RoboCop Statue). What started as a tweet to Detroit's current mayor, Dave Bing, has ended in RoboCop (formally known as Officer Alex Murphy) returning to the streets in statue form. The collective Internet saw this tweet, saw Mayor Bing's response that there were no plans to erect a RoboCop statue and hopped into action by using popular crowd-funding site, Kickstarter.com. Surprise, surprise, they raised the money they needed to make this dream a reality. To see them actually build it, well that's a whole 'nother story.

And although I don't agree with the following revamp to the "Spirit of Detroit" statue, it does look kinda cool.



Just goes to show you; there are people on the Internet who dare to care and will help at a drop of hat for a cause they feel is cool, entertaining, or just the right thing to do.

So pat yourself on the back, Internet. You done good.

Also, tough call on which way of the spectrum this falls:



Sean Sutherland Associate Account Executive/Anti-Troll Troll

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Conan: Successful Social Media User

How does an ex-talk show host who has a very public spat with his old network for trying to change his timeslot, rebound after a do-not-appear-on-tv buyout deal, and end up at the top of the ratings?


The Answer: Social Media

Since his falling out with NBC in 2009, Conan was prohibited from appearing on television. Without his familiar zaniness outlet, Conan turned to one of the only places left for him to connect with his audience, a Twitter account.
This was literally the first fans would hear from Conan since the gag order.

Conan continually fed the masses of hungry fans who were bitter with NBC and Jay Leno for not supporting their uniquely-haired talk show host, bringing the #TeamCoco movement to a fever pitch.

Filling a stream with personal anecdotes and making headlines by following just one random Twitter user, Conan had tapped into the pulse of what drove his show, and in essence, himself to be such big hits.

Soon after, Conan also put on a brief 30-city tour, appropriately named "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour, which featured such acts as Conan and Jim Carrey dressed as Kick Ass and Superman performing Five for Fightings' "Superman (It's Not Easy.)"


Around this time he launched the appropriately named TEAMCOCO, which became the nexus for all things Conan including a special announcement in September that he would be launching a new show on TBS in November.

He followed this up with a Facebook where he would randomly take a Facebook fan's question and answer them on his Youtube channel.

After that it's a whirlwind of a live 24-hour webcam event, a mock first show called Show Zero, and of course the Team Coco blimp which featured it's own Foursquare badge if you were lucky enough for it to float over your city.

Conan O'Brien's social media experience illustrates one of the most successful uses of social marketing by a celebrity in connecting with their audience.

He had interactions and influence numbers that marketers drool over.

And what was the result of all of these social shenaningans?

When Conan's show finally premiered on TBS, the audience he had gained through his career at Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Tonight show, the audience he had gained through Dancing Tacos, I Miss Conan videos, and exclusive Foursquare badges tuned in and put him on the ratings throne of late night television.

With his attention back toward his TV show, will the stream of content be hindered so much so that Team Coco's social presense dwindles? Or was this all merely a stop gap until he made it back to the airwaves?

Sean Sutherland, Associate Account Executive/Team Coco supporter

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Intern Sweatshop: Fired- Up Over Social Media

Everything that you do promotes the brand “You” whether or not that you are aware of it.

How you dress, the language you use, the ways in which you behave online and the things you post on social media sites all play a part in this self-branding. People today are very quick to post their most intimate feelings, rants, and gripes on Facebook and Twitter.

To me it is just common sense that you shouldn’t put everything out there, because it then becomes available for anyone to read. This of course includes employers.

You’ve probably heard some kind of story of this sort by now: Employee posts something on their Facebook page complaining about their boss or company, and then they get fired. Not the smartest thing to do, right? This issue remains up for debate after a recent federal court case.

Recently, Dawnmarie Souza, who worked at a Connecticut ambulance company, believed she was let go due to her critical comments about her boss that she posted on Facebook. Although, American Medical Response of Connecticut, Inc., claimed they fired her because of grievances about work.

She should have been more aware of how she is perceived via her Facebook page, and familiar with who was reading her posts. Employers might actually need to teach social media awareness because of the ever-fading line of our personal and professional lives.

Feeling she was unjustly fired, Souza contacted the National Labor Relations Board who filed a lawsuit her on the grounds that her comments were protected speech under federal labor laws.

When the dust settled and the unsavory Facebook updates surfaced, the matter was settled for an undisclosed amount. The Connecticut Company’s Internet and blogging policy restricted its workers from making comments about their managers or work, which was changed under the settlement with the labor board.

This case is poised to test new grounds in labor laws and companies setting legal limits on their employee’s social media usage. What exactly should be allowed? How far can free speech protect?

Freedom is speech is a powerful tool, but it can’t save you from everything.

Employers now check social media sites before hiring any employees. People judge others all of the time and a good way to get judged is to have obscene drunk pphotos, complaints, and uncouth comments on your social media site. A person could be a great employee, but still have terrible social media content. People need to get educated about social media usage.

Since this is still such a grey area, I think employers should get their staff to sign a code of conduct, instead of trying to restrict actual postings on social media sites. This case doesn’t give free-reign to writing whatever you wish on social media sites, because there can still be consequences.

If you’re not trying to get fired or go to court over your posts, then you better play it safe and stay away from referring to your boss as “Mr. Myfacesucks” unless that’s his name of course.

The bottom line is millions of people use Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. There aren’t strict laws yet about what content is allowed on these sites about our places of employment, but this is a step in that direction.

Awareness about how you are perceived is something that is very important to examine in the workplace. Get educated about social media usage, and use some common sense.

Last time at the Intern Sweatshop, Josh Just Checked In At...

Rob Devereux, Account Services Intern/Avoiding Getting Trumped

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Intern Sweatshop: Has Social Media Gone Too Far?

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace… just to name a few. Social media is great, right? Catch up with old friends, see how everyone’s doing, and even advertise for your company. But as the saying goes, it’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Have you heard of the newly popular foursquare? No, not the playground game – the social networking site. You download an application onto your cell phone, and then as you go places, you “check in” on foursquare. You are then awarded “points” and “badges” for updating your location. So, it’s an application that encourages you to explore different locations and let friends know what you’re doing. No harm in that, right?

Wrong. Consider this scenario: You go out with some friends to your favorite restaurant, and you check in via foursquare, “in New York, NY: White Castle has the best burgers!” Guess where everyone now knows you’re at… you guessed it, the White Castle in New York, NY. But what’s more important, guess where people now know you're not: your home.

foursquare seems to have just gone a bit too far. I’m sure the creators had no intention of making this dangerous, but this can cause problems with stalking because people know your location, as well as theft because people know when you aren’t home. The website pleaserobme.com was created to raise awareness about “over-sharing.” It scanned tweets from twitter and check-ins from foursquare and posted them on their website to show people who were not in their home. Recently, the site has stopped showing the tweets or check-ins but still encourages people to not share anything they don’t want everyone to know.

This link shows you how a guy figured out a woman’s age, location, profession, shopping habits, email address, and phone number in a matter of minutes from social networking sites. Quite scary to know how much someone can find out about you just by a few clicks of the mouse. Here's another link to an article about a woman who claimed to have been robbed after posting on Facebook that she would be out for the evening.

So, while social media may seem like a great thing, just be careful what you do and what you say. Whether it's a Facebook post a potential boss may find or a foursquare check-in a potential stalker may look at, once it's on the Web, it's hard to take it back.

--Tara Cammarata, Creative Department Stealth Intern

Last time on the Intern Sweatshop: Is Dove Men+Care really targeting men?

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Intern Sweatshop: RockMelt May Potentially Rock My Internet, Hopefully

RockMelt (yeah, it's an awful name) is a new browser based on Chrome that integrates social networking, chat and news right into your browsing.

It. Looks. Awesome.

Let's be honest, some of us have too many programs running on our computer. I, for one, am a big news/social network nut and can have five or six programs running at a time. RSS feed readers, chat clients, Twitter clients, link sharing apps, the kitchen sink: it's too much. I've tried moving it all online, using web apps for everything so I can do it all from my Internet browser. Good idea, but now I perpetually have five or six browser tabs open. This predicament is why I was very excited when RockMelt was announced yesterday.

You can check Twitter, share links and get feed updates without visiting any of those sites. It might finally be the all in one Internet workflow I have always dreamt cautious dreams about. Disclaimer: I am a bit weary of having things popping up right in my browser. With my present setup, I can ignore the tabs I have open or just close them if I need to focus. RockMelt might prove to be information overload. Techcrunch put it bluntly.

The other forseeable downside is privacy. Having all our social networks tied right into our browser could be the next step toward ol' Zuckerbug tracking literally everything we do. The implications are a bit creepy. Google and Facebook already tailor ads to your search terms and interests, respectively. Imagine if Facebook started sending you chat messages based on the sites you visited yesterday? Yeah, not cool.

Though I am a bit guarded in my excitement, I am definitely excited to try RockMelt. Downloading the browser is still invite only, so I'll have to wait for my potential social network salvation for now. Until then, check the intro video and let me know if you're as intruiged as I am.



Kyle Sacks, Future Early Adopters Anoymous Member/Intern

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