Does anybody have ice? The ground is swelling again.

Look over there! Quick!


Did you see that?


Did you see the groundswell?





Ok, well you probably didn't really see it, because groundswell is actually "a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations", according to Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.





So, why is groundswell so important? With the rise of RSS feeds and social bookmarking sites like Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon and such, it is easier than ever for people to converse, share information and opinions and ask questions. People are getting information faster and from a larger number of sources. This means that the good news about a company will travel, but the bad news will probably travel faster. And to more people.





Companies can no longer ignore groundswell (at least, if they want to be successful). It isn't going to go away (I'm sure that's what these algorithms indicate, if I could understand them. Math was never my thing), so it's time for companies to discover how to use it to their best advantage.





Essentially, it should be about "listening to, talking with, energising, supporting and embracing your customers and community", like Australian telecommunications and media company Telstra is doing with Now We Are Talking, which listens to the issues and concerns of their customers.





Now, if it takes those issues and concerns into consideration and offers solutions, it will really be adapting to groundswell.





Another useful way for companies to use these sites? Brand monitoring. Whether good or bad, people are likely to talk about your company, product or service. These sites allow a candid look at what customers are saying and sharing with the world, something that would be difficult to get through other approaches like surveys, focus groups, etc.





Where should a company start? Marketing Pilgrim suggests several tools, including using Username Check to prevent "brand-jacking" - a someone hijacking your brand for their username and, potentially, damaging your reputation.





There are other sites that can be used to monitor the social conversation: Facebook Lexicon, which allows the user to see how often a keyword is mentioned on Facebook walls; BackType, which monitors comments left about a brand; and of course, Twitter helps by monitoring the brand and offers RSS feeds and emails through TweetBeep.





The list of social media monitoring tools available to companies is large and growing every day. Some are more useful/applicable than others, but using these tools is becoming more and more important for companies that wish to maintain long-term success. The only difficulty is determining which tool is best for the job.

Let's Get Ethical.

I think everyone would agree that watching youtube videos while on company time is unethical. Which explains why so many companies firewall social media sites, restricting employee access to potential time wasters like facebook and, yes, even twitter.

Because, really, is spending the majority of your day updating your status or perusing the profile of that friend's brother's girlfriend's second cousin's best friend productive at all?

But what if a company wants to use a social media tool as an outlet for PR?

Hello, double standard. I'd like to introduce you to my good friend business ethics. Business ethics, meet double standard. Be careful around him though, he's a little two-faced.

Is it a double standard for a company to restrict an emplyee's access to social media sites, and yet allow its PR department to use them as a resource? What if the employee was using the site to promote the company/service/product? What if they were only accessing the site during their lunch break? Is it ethical to determine what an employee can or cannot do during that time?

It's clear that, ethical or not, some companies will continue to firewall sites that they consider "time wasters" while others will trust the judgement of their staff to use these sites appropriately. I think one thing everyone will agree on, though, is that viewing Cookie Monster Sings Chocolate Rain even once is unethical.

What's your flavour?

Let’s play some word association. What do you think of when I say: Angry Ranch? Cheesy Enchilada? Secret Pepper? Chipacabra? Scream Cheese?

Pretty soon one of these names will make you think of Doritos. That’s because they’ve developed a campaign called Doritos Guru where consumers name their newest flavour. They also produce a 30-second commercial to promote the new flavour.

So, what makes this campaign different from, say, designing a new box of Smarties? It uses social media marketing techniques to promote, monitor and determine the winner of the contest.
By pairing up with both Facebook and YouTube, Doritos has made it incredibly easy to enter. Guru-hopefuls can upload their commercial via any of these three sites and enter the contest. Because the sites mirror one another, an entry uploaded via Facebook can also be seen on the Doritos site.

Another great social media aspect of this campaign? It utilizes Facebook Connect, a platform that synchs up your Facebook profile with a profile you create on the Doritos Guru website that allows you to vote, comment and submit videos. Not only is Doritos getting great exposure through Facebook, they're also encouraging more people to create a Doritos Guru profile, giving them a quick and easy way to track traffic flow on their site.

Using social media sites already in existence, like Facebook, is only helping the Doritos Guru campaign. These sites already target their audience, are widely recognized and are easy to use. The Doritos Guru campaign automatically earns credibility by using these established social media sites. Of course, adding weekly and daily prizes for registered users doesn't hurt, either.

Has all this talk about chips made anyone else hungry? Pass the Doritos, please.

The Tweetest Thing

The unannounced hiatus this blog has taken is a result of me actually (oh no, don't say it) living in the real world. Yep, in the last few weeks the scales were tipped quite heavily in favour of socializing, instead of participating in social media.

But not to worry, I wasn't completely out of the social media loop during that time. I managed to record a podcast (my first ever) with some classmates. We interviewed Martin Waxman , president and co-owner of Palette PR in downtown Toronto. He gave us some insightful answers to our Twitter-related questions. Listen to the podcast, or visit Martin's Twittionary for a useful glossary of all things Twitter.

Now, I'm not currently a user of Twitter, although Martin's enthusiasm for the tool almost has me convinced. Almost. I'm still getting over (what I think) is the slightly narcisisstic aspect of it. Everytime I seriously consider joining, I think about that Greek mythological hero and envision my own death by self-obsession. How many Tweeters (see, the Twittionary is useful!) are currently sitting, frozen to their screens, awaiting status updates, replies and retweets?

Ladies and gentlemen, that's what is commonly referred to as "Tweetaholism". While there is no ten-step program (that I know of), the road to recovery is easy and quick:

Step One - back away from the computer. Slowly, now.

Step Two - open the door. See that? It's called sunshine. It's ok, your eyes will only burn for a minute.

Step Three - take a deep breath. That's what I like to call fresh air.

Step Four - live! Welcome back.

I'm still finding this balancing act of socializing and social media rather precarious. I think joining Twitter might just tip the scales. Any Tweeters (or recovering Tweetaholics) care to weigh in on the issue?

What's in a name?

Are you LinkedIn? No?

Well if you Care2, Gather up your stuff and come on over to myspace to see what’s up; we’ll chat over dinner. I promise you it will be del.icio.us!

Ok, so maybe the only thing I know how to make is mac & cheese in the microwave but I’m sure together we can StumbleUpon something else. Wiki! Wait, what’s that mean?

It’s, like, slang dude. You Digg? Whatever, I’m just Twitter-ing on about nothing, trying to get a Ryze out of you. But since you’re here, I’ve got a book I want to loan you; I Reddit, and I think you’ll love it too.

Books. You remember books right? No, not that kind of book.

Who names these social networking sites anyways? I guess they’re catchy and all, but really? Bebo? Xanga? And, more importantly, what is with the complete disregard for spelling and punctuation when choosing a name? What are we teaching our children?

Maybe that’s just my English Literature background coming back to haunt me. But I have to wonder, would a social networking site by any other name still be as connected?

What do you think? You’ve been Tagged, so you’re it!

Can I get a Hi5 for that one?

Brand Who?

One of the most popular topics in all of my classes is branding.

Personal branding, that is.

My instructors encourage us to develop our own personal brand, something we can use to "sell" ourselves at a job interview. They call it "Brand You" and we're supposedly putting it out there each and every time we participate in social media.

My struggle is this: if I don't even know what my personal brand is in real life, how can I know what brand I'm leaving behind in the virtual world?

When a company decides on a brand, presumably they do some research. What is their target audience? How do they want to appear to that audience? What's the best way to reach them?

So for me, it breaks down like this: what is my target audience? (potential employers) How do I want to appear to that audience? (smart, reliable, etc.) What's the best way to reach them? (good question. If I had the answer to that, I probably wouldn't be writing this entry)

Some of my classmates are on Twitter (all the time, but that's another post). They're putting their personal brand out there via status updates, reaching potential employers and clients alike. For me, that just doesn't seem like the way I want to get my brand out there.

And just what is that brand?

When I figure it out, I'll let you know...

This is no (your mom) joke.

Well, the day has finally arrived.

My mom has facebook.

I thought that since we had come this far and she had yet to figure out how to sign up, I was free and clear. I thought wrong. Despite my many refusals to help her, she has figured it out all on her own.

And is now adding my friends.

Since I have yet to accept her request, she hasn't seen my profile. It's locked down, and not because of its content; I just don't feel the need to allow just any random stranger access to my information and photos.

So why haven't I accepted her request? It's simple: my mother doesn't need to be privy to every detail of my life. When I go home for the weekend, I would like to give her the highlights and have it be brand new information, not something she read on her mini-feed days ago.

Some of you may feel this is being a little harsh to the woman who brought me into this world. But what can I say? I just don't feel the need to fully bring her into my world. Maybe it's because I don't think of her as being up to speed on everything technology related (my parents still believe my hotmail account is taking up space on their personal computer, and tell me to delete my emails to make it run faster. Seriously.)

To all my facebook friends: if you receive a request from my mom, please, whatever you do - do not confirm.