Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

1. Loose lips sink ships and so can Twitter

   Published on Friday, June 17th, 2011
   Today we learned of the All Blacks new social media policy, dubbed ‘online is offside’. In an attempt to avoid competitive leaks and unnecessary distraction, our players have now been banned from personal tweets during the Rugby World Cup.

   Are such social media boundaries a bit extreme, or are they much-needed and well overdue? And where did our common sense go with all this newfound reach?

   Overseas, it seems they’re facing the same problem establishing boundaries for social media usage. The UK defence force has just launched an advertising campaign that reminds family and friends of servicemen in combat zones to watch what they say on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

   Meanwhile Senator Weiner has learnt the power of a tweet pic having naively tried to blame hackers for his online philandering, and UK juror Joanne Fraill is serving an eight month jail term after discussing deliberations with the defendant on Facebook.

   They’ve learnt the hard way (although it seems obvious), that no longer do snoops need to scour through rubbish bins, peep through windows or listen at doors, when they can just view a Twitter feed or ‘Facebook stalk’.

   While common sense is the first rule of thumb for all communication, it’s also clear that not everyone applies it to tweets and statuses. Just as we wouldn’t sit in a crowded room sharing sensitive information or making inappropriate personal comments (well we shouldn’t) – why do some people think it is okay to do it online?

   All Blacks Cory Jane and Neemia Tialata have already been told off by management for tweeting back in 2009 about their non-selection to face England more than 24 hours before the team was officially announced. It seems that even sports stars are guilty of assuming that the normal rules of confidentiality and ethics don’t apply when using social media.

   Perhaps some of these rather obvious examples will remind people just how accessible our thoughts are when posted online. Mainstream and major media journalists are quoting Twitter updates in news stories, and Sh*t My Dad Says, a popular Twitter feed based on a father’s thoughts and rants, has been turned into a television sitcom starring William Shatner.

   On the other hand, we mustn’t let the potential risks or a lack of boundaries undermine faith in the value of using Twitter. Just as we take a thoughtful approach to using traditional media, we must do the same online. Our interface with the Fourth Estate continues to evolve and so too will our interface with these newer social media channels.

   Others will be talking about you but what you really need is them to talk with you. If you are not part of the initial conversation, when you do have something to say, you probably won’t be heard or you’ll lack the authority to be taken seriously.

   So how ever you use it, always remember that loose lips can sink ships, but tweets could sink a whole lot more.

2. Rewriting the crisis management template

   Published on Friday, April 30th, 2010
   Corporations not convinced of the role that social media can play in crisis or issues management communication need only study its role during the recent Iceland volcanic eruption to change their position totally.

   As you read this, the template for managing a crisis is being rewritten.

   In the recent airline crisis, experienced as a result of the Icelandic volcano eruption, twitter proved itself a frontline communication tool, sitting alongside the more traditional first responses such as call centres, hotlines and websites.

   According to Mashable, The Social Media Guide, the use of twitter during the crisis started as a self help tool among stranded travellers.

   Also immediately, airline communicators picked up on what was happening, and started to update flight status and provide service information on twitter through hashtags (devices for tracking specific topics). This initiative alone was credited with taking a significant level of pressure off call centres that were close to being overwhelmed.

   The more innovative airlines extended their initiatives down into their Facebook pages, providing general information and also engaging in one-on-one real-time conversations with customers, including seeking to re-book stranded passengers on alternative flights.

   Meanwhile, back on twitter the public started to lend a hand to stranded travellers – offering rides, places to stay and food.

   If you want a more detailed overview of social media’s role in the crisis please click here.

   The key learning to emerge from this for those involved in crisis management is the need to include in the management plan an important role for social media.

   A significant proportion of the public instinctively look to twitter and Facebook for information, and as communicators we need to reach out to our audiences, rather than require them to come to us.

3. A happy slip of the tongue

   Published on Thursday, September 17th, 2009
   Let me get one thing off my chest, whether it was on the record, off the record, a throwaway comment, a personal observation or an official declaration, fortunately for President Obama he was right on the money. Kayne West is a jackass.

   The golden boy rapper’s churlish treatment of country singer Taylor Swift at the MTV awards was pure-fool, and he may never live the moment down.

   In the aftermath, ABC News employees overheard a conversation between the President and CNBC’s John Harwood on the matter, where Obama called West a “jackass”.

   The comment was recorded, tweeted and lit up the internet.

   The television network has since apologised and said that it was wrong for its employees to tweet the comment, but they didn’t realise it was considered off the record.  But was it?

   Obama is the President of the United States, and his words, every one of them is newsworthy. He’s gained much of his popularity because he’s used online social networks with real savvy, and this time it’s no different, because unlike many nasty asides that have been recorded during on-mic mishaps, Obama got it so right.

   As one web commentator put it, “just when I thought I couldn’t love Barack anymore!”

   Another world leader making headlines is French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He’s said that gross domestic product, inflation, and unemployment are all old-fashioned, Anglo-Saxon indicators of national wellbeing, and from now on, the country’s economic progress will be measured in terms of happiness – bonheur.

   The French president has some heavyweights to help him back up this new measure, Nobel Prize-winning economists, the American Joseph Stiglitz, and India’s Amartya Sen, who have concluded that new indexes are needed to measure wellbeing and environmental sustainability.

   Surely he’s hit the nail on the head, as isn’t this what corporate social responsibility programmes should be all about, creating bonheur for all?

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

   Published on Monday, August 10th, 2009
   Social networking sites Twitter and Facebook have been hacked, and much to the consternation of millions of users it’s not the first time the online giants have had their security tested and found wanting.

   Facebook now has over 250 million users and Twitter is snapping at its heels in terms of numbers of registered users. Both social media platforms have become pivotal channels for many organisations to reach out to staff or customers for work, play and the sharing of information.

   Twitter is shrugging off this most recent official hacking, but the breach occurred in the most basic of ways. A hacker guessed an employees password to a personal email account and then simply stole confidential company information and crashed the service.

   According to the Weekend Herald motives for denial-of-service attacks range from political to rabble-rousing to extortion, with criminal groups increasingly threatening to hobble popular websites that do not pay demanded fees, security experts told Reuters.

   These attacks raise some salient points for companies, marketers and communicators.

   First off, never neglect basic web hygiene by maintaining strong passwords that use a combination of letters and numbers, and keep security up-to-date.

   Second, as cloud computing (the fast growing trend of storing data online ) becomes the norm and social networking sites are entrenched as an integral part of business to business communication, then a back-up to these occasionally unstable and vulnerable platforms needs to be part of the plan.

   And last, aside from ensuring that contacts are saved and stored, don’t abandon real time, personal relationships and keep your brand alive and visible in the real world. 

   The lesson from this recent hacking incident is don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

5. How to lose friends and alienate people in real-time

   Published on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
   Social media is the fastest growing place on the internet, and this fact hasn’t escaped the corporate gaze. Savvy, quick acting corporate players are getting their marketing and communication operatives out there on the net and engaging in the real business of customer relations and brand-reputation management.

   In New Zealand, few have been better or faster at the social media game than mobile operator Vodafone.

   Vodafone New Zealand has a great advocate in its quick and clever external Communications Manager, Paul Brislen.

   Having cottoned onto the power of internet communications and talking directly to customers, Twitter was was a natural area for Paul to expand into.

   Twitter is where he works and plays, but not exclusively because he is technically savvy enough to hold his own in any forum. In twitter-space he scored brownie points for his handy customer assistance, transparency and deft approach, all while having a bit of a laugh, or so it seemed.

   Vodafone via Paul won kudos from bloggers and key online influencers mainly because he hasn’t hoodwinked anyone and is genuinely helpful. In essence that’s what social media is about.

   The internet and particularly its social networks are reliant on one essential thing in order to have any meaning whatsoever – trust. You can‘t see who people are so you have to take their word for it, or in Twitter’s case 140 characters.

   Where Vodafone has come unstuck is in Paul giving up his @VodafoneNZ identity to a marketing operative called ‘The 3G Guy’, an import who was giving away clues for punters to win free netbooks.

   This so annoyed the people who had built a relationship, that when his identity was assumed by someone seen as a spamming sales-pitcher, it royally peeved off some influential twitterer’s who promptly “un-followed” @vodafonenz and encouraged others to do so as well.

   This afternoon Paul, to his credit, has said sorry, and chalked it up to learning new things in this very new space.

   What did he learn then? Even if it’s true that on the internet where no one knows you are a dog, if you say you’re someone in particular, you’d better stick to that. People are very targeted and focused in the way they use the internet, and will shun you if this is not respected.

6. The new art of conversation

   Published on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
   By now you should all know that social media is the new art of conversation.  Billions of people around the globe are using social media tools to converse, collaborate and share information every day.

   So Network PR’s team of consultants gathered on a cool autumn evening at the Gow Langsford Gallery for The Social Network to do our own conversing, collaborating and information sharing with key influencers shaping this new conversation landscape.

   Surrounded by the ethereal art of Tim Maguire, a mix of the traditional and new media, bloggers, reporters, TV personalities, producers and tech-geeks from across the realms of NZ media got together to mingle and talk Twitter.

   Social media strategist Stephen Collins shared his thoughts around the power of social media – “half the planet is connected to social media – it’s an important and powerful space to understand and be a part of“.  He highlighted that social networking tools such as Facebook, Flickr and Twitter did not exist five years ago which begs the question, what’s next?

   Evolving Newsroom blogger and former Telegraph journalist Julie Starr talked about where journalism fits in to the new information era saying that “social media offers a new way of thinking for information; its about timing, accurate and relevant information about the world around us”.

   It was an enjoyable evening highlighting that traditional means of building relationships and communicating with each other remain vitally important; however we need to learn to embrace the new.

   For me personally, I like the way that social media lets me re-connect with friends I haven’t seen for eight years who live on the other side of the world.  I like the way that it provides me with different, new and exciting information every day.

   So Kiwi businesses, if you want to be heard, whether it’s a story, a new product or an idea why not get on board the social media express and master the new art of conversation.

   In the meantime, you can check out our fabulous event video here:

   www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKlh76IRW0&feature=channel_page

7. Mad about Copyright

   Published on Monday, March 9th, 2009
   The new Copyright Act was all set to come into effect on February 28, but just a few weeks shy of that date an on-line campaign was waged that saw government call timeout and stop the Act becoming law.

   Regardless of your position on Section 92A, the approach taken by the on-line community is one to learn from.  It was unique in its effectiveness and in outcome, but most of all its speed. The campaign demonstrates the power of on-line communities – both as a friend and foe.

   The so-called ‘Guilt upon Accusation’ clause caused the storm in a laptop for many in online and artistic communities.  Section 92A of the Act provided for Internet Service Providers to cut users web access on suspicion of a breach of copyright, and this was at the heart of issue. The strategy to get their views heard was very simple. The community opposed to section 92A blacked out their online avatars on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter. The idea, inspired by an All Blacks supporters call for fans to switch their avatars to silver ferns, was proposed by web developer Brenda Wallace at an un-conference held February 15.

   Come the following Monday morning the ‘blackout’ news was spreading and the lights went out all over the internet. Web influencer and twitter-er extraordinaire Stephen Fry weighed in and turned his picture black in a bold signal to his 250,000 followers.

   The opposition movement to Section 92A gained momentum, those motivated to lend support or find out more, crashed blog sites. The mainstream media here and internationally suddenly sat up and took notice. Scores of news items, from a range of viewpoints, appeared across all media. There ensued an unprecedented amount of coverage for what is really a dry, complex and niggly piece of legislation.

   Within eight days from conception to completion the ‘blackout’ campaign organisers had made their way to John Key’s office and the law was suspended.

   This campaign showed how an issue can now move at lightening speed, across countries, organisations and traditional groupings.  It is also a reminder to companies how, with the speed of new media, they can have a major issue on their hands before even being aware it exists.  The solution lies in keeping in touch with all critical audiences both on-line and off-line.