My 10 Tips For Using Twitter

Like most folks, I began using a couple of social media platforms just thinking I’d try them out.  Little did I know then that they would become seemingly indispensable tools not only for personal utilization but also for professional use.  For me, one of the turning point moments came when I learned over Twitter that Osama Bin Laden was dead, not on television or radio.  If you are just getting into the Twitter game, or have been at it for a while, here are some of the things I think about when using this amazing platform.

5 things I look at when deciding to follow someone on Twitter:

1. The person or enterprise appears to have something interesting or useful to say on an ongoing basis. It helps to be at least slightly clever or creative. That can include work with photos or videos or curation of information on any number of subjects.
2. The account holder generally uses acceptable language. Too much cursing is gross whether in private conversation or in public channels.
3. If the person/enterprise is following me, I’m interested to see if they are Tweeting in an effective way.  If they’re just lurking, I won’t follow.
4. The user appears to be real and safe. With the risk that there’s something fraudulent or even technologically risky about the account, I’ll stay very far away.
5.  Is this someone I could help, such as an aspiring professional or artist, by following?  No harm in giving it a shot.

        5 things that help me decide not to follow someone on Twitter:

1.       There’s a long lag between Tweets, or no sign of real presence on the platform.   There’s no set frequency that’s needed, but the user needs to be engaged.

2.       There’s no profile photo or description of the account. Come on, how hard is it to upload a photo or image? Please don’t call yourself a tech evangelist.

3.       An abundance of insults, of other users or random targets, suggests following won’t be a positive experience.

4.       An extension of the last issue: tolerance.  Is the account user intolerant of others with different opinions, including in the political realm?  There’s enough intolerance and hate in the world, thank you.

5.       Careless writing, grammar or spelling are strong clues that following could be a bad idea.  A bit of care, including a last-second look for an edit, before hitting “Tweet” can make the different between adding followers, landing some Retweets and Favorites or just getting lost in the Twitterverse.

Follow me on Twitter: @Hamrickisms

The Olympics Have Shown a Widening Digital Divide

Analog aficionados have squared off versus digital devotees. And a business model hangs in the balance.

Are you a person who doesn't want to know how the Olympics turn out until you can watch it on television? Or do you watch events live during the day on a tablet and perhaps again later at home on the wide screen?

If there's one thing the flow of text and video from the Olympics has demonstrated to us, it is that we're an information society divided.  It is not unlike the way we look at the national political discourse as red vs. blue states. Only in this case, it is those who want their information in real-time vs. those who only want content when it presented on television, even delayed.

Twitter presented a unique opportunity for people who wanted to watch hijacked streams of the opening ceremonies.  NBC opted not to offer online video streams of both the opening and closing ceremonies.  So when Tweets started appearing to point out a live feed (such as from the BBC intended for the British audience), more than just a few folks began watching.  In the end it didn't seem to hurt ratings and NBC now expects to avoid taking a loss on the games. It will be interesting to see if a future decision is made in favor of live feeds domestically in the U.S. for opening and closing ceremonies.When you are paying $1 billion for the rights, it is understandable that an enterprise is looking to manage risk.  The only problem is that enraged viewers can find also find a potentially sympathetic global audience through social media. Check out some of the angry hashtags on Twitter, such as #nbcfail. 

The bulk of the viewing public appeared to be just fine with watching the delayed telecast, as if it were happening in real time. Better at home on the bigger screen perhaps?

Similarly, it has been clear that some folks don't want to know about the outcome of the competitions ahead of their delayed viewing.  Social media is full of people complaining that they weren't given "spoiler alerts".  In case you don't know, an example of a spoiler alert is a sort of warning given before an important movie plot twist or resolution is revealed, such as in a movie review. This divide has put some news/entertainment organizations in the position of having to decide whether to help keep the "secret", at least with headlines, or strictly hold to tradition in reporting news when it happens uniformly across all platforms. 

It seems like a fair bet that as more "digital natives" and their successors come of age, as we older folks go on to that viewing room in the sky, the proportion of the audience demanding real-time content and information flow will predominate.  It also might be that traditional television and Internet technology will have melded by then anyway, making obsolete the question of whether to force delayed viewings and to withhold information on results.

Better Words Needed!

Back when I was a kid my grandmother referred to every refrigerator as a "Frigidaire". I didn't understand it because the impact of the brand name was lost on me. In this way, she was a creature of habit. Her usage of the term reflected the fact the brand was the first major commercially available product, which was widely used.  Of course, competition including other brand names eventually overtook the marketplace, but she and many other Americans never quite got around to updating their vocabulary.

We find ourselves similarly challenged now during a time of rapid technological change, and it may not occur to us that we use terms that are literally outdated.  The problem is that we have trouble coming up with better replacements.

Examples? Do you say you "type" on a keyboard?  But, in fact, you haven't used a typewriter in decades, if ever.  Similarly, some of my colleagues in journalism will continue to refer to "taping" an interview, even though the analog tape-based technology hasn't been used for some time. Is that a "film" you are watching? Well, maybe it is, but it might be all digital.

As a half-hearted attempt to get it right, I might be guilty myself and have heard other folks say they "DVR'd" something, or used the recording capability of their cable set-top box to capture a program for later viewing.  Seems like we should be able to do better than that with the word selection. But we're still working on it.

Can you think of other examples?  What other terms might be at risk?
Language tends to be a living and breathing entity. But there are cases where the words fail to keep pace with the evolving times because we are thinking about our past habits.

Paying Attention -- Being Focused on the World Around Us

I haven't posted many links on this blog, but this is a remarkable essay.  At a time when our behavior is being transformed by technology, we all need to give considerable thought to the negative implications of those changes.  Have you ever been in public watching a parent ignoring their child because they're focused on their mobile device? And what do these habits say about us? This is a quick read and quite thought-provoking. Although it is from the Harvard Business Review, it could just as well be delivered at a homily at Sunday mass.

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/06/what_captures_your_attention_c.html?awid=8429786022698583094-3271

My hope for 2012 -- understanding technology's limits

For most Americans, access to information, and technology facilitating that access is a given.  How is it then, that it seems like a tremendous challenge to attain greater knowledge?  Living around Washington, I regularly see people driving poorly, with a cell phone affixed to their ears. People walk onto elevators looking only at a mobile device, ignoring the person standing right beside them.

Walking down the street, or through an airport, people are checking their social media, or status updates, without being aware of their surroundings.   There have been numerous reports lately where people are having new iPhones stolen right out of their hands, oblivious to the threats approaching them on the street. One can imagine someone checking to see what the weather is on a mobile device, while standing outside.

We all are working to adapt to the amazing changes in technology that surround us.  It is a challenge. There's a learning curve to understanding the new GPS in a car, on a cable set-top box or included in a new mobile phone. But assimilating that technology into the human experience is something else completely. By the way, I love new gadgets and apps as much as the next person. But I worry sometimes that we've lost focus and  connections with one another.

My prayer for the year ahead is that we remember that none of this technology ultimately has much value if we fail to understand we need each other to make our communities and our greater society work. There's no app for that.

If we strive only for improved technology, but accept diminished human relations, we've failed.

(Do you have some ideas how we can both embrace technology and others at the same time? Feel free to share them in the comments section.)