A Visitor's Guide To Boston

(Boston skyline from the Fenway Park press box)

Several times a year I am asked by friends I have met through social media, "Where should I go and what should I see when I visit Boston?" I am asked this question often enough that I’ve decided to kill many birds with one post, providing them a resource they can reference during their visit.

Some restaurants you may like to try during your visit are: L’Espalier with New England-French cuisine; Mistral, also with French cuisine (turn down the volume on your computer speakers because they have music on their website) or Davio’s, a Northern Italian steakhouse.

Some Twitter followers suggested several restaurants in the North End, among them: La Famiglia Giorgio’s; Antico Forno; Florentine Café (they also have music on their website); Limoncello and Assaggio (more involuntary music – when will web designers/businesses learn how annoying that is?).

Finally, for the history of it, you should visit The Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in the United States. This restaurant is dark and crowded so people either love it or hate it. Stop in for a cup of chowder and stay for some lobster if you like.

Boston is filled with museums and other educational facilities. Some obvious stops are the Museum of Fine Arts; the Museum of Science; the New England Aquarium; and the USS Constitution Museum. If art is your thing you must go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum located conveniently down the street from the MFA. Baseball fans shouldn't miss a tour of Fenway Park which opened the same week the Titanic sank. Visitors who enjoy a nice stroll will be rewarded by the history of The Freedom Trail, with ancient (for the U.S.) buildings and grave yards.

There are also several half day and day trips a short jaunt from Boston. You can take an hour and an half cruise (one way) through Boston Harbor to Provincetown, where the Pilgrims first landed. While there, climb the Pilgrim Monument. Right outside of Boston, in Brookline (formerly Muddy River, a part of Boston), is Lars Anderson Auto Museum. To bear witness to our, thankfully left behind, past visit the Royall House and Slave Quarters. Tour the home of our second U.S. President and the birthplace of the sixth at Adams National Historic Park.

I could go on with all of Boston’s cultural offerings such as the Boston Ballet and the Boston Symphony Orchestra but you already have enough to keep you busy for a week or two so I will leave you discover those things for yourself. Enjoy your stay!

Local readers, what other “must see” sights have I missed? Please leave them in the comments below. Thank you.

(The author has not been, in any way, compensated by any restaurant, museum or business in this post. This post is merely a list of activities and does not necessarily serve as recommendation of any of the places cited herein.)

How To NOT Retain A Loyal Customer

I've put off writing this post for weeks because it makes me look stupid. I can be and will readily admit it but don't like to advertise the point. One thing I have noticed in new media is, admitting a

failure seldom encourages commiseration but often invites people to throw rocks. So be it. I'll take the rocks because I am certain I am not alone in how I have been treated by AT&T.

AT&T inherited me from Cingular. Combined, they have had my business for a decade. I've driven distances to go to company stores because their franchises are poorly managed. A drawback in dealing with company stores is, there must be something disparaging in early records because I have had employees laugh at me after reading my account data. Not sure what it could be since I pay my bills and have stayed with them even when I was out of contract. I'm good with the snark myself and can appreciate an inside joke but I'd never betray that to a customer. I guess self control is not part of their training.

I purchased a smart phone and unlimited text and internet access from AT&T nearly two years ago. About a month later I went on a three day business trip to do insurance audits and was thrilled to discover, after the first day, I did not need to bring my laptop with me because my phone had enough computing power to replicate the laptop.

A few months later the big iPhone release happened, suddenly the network is overtaxed, service is slow, calls drop & text messages might arrive when you send them or a day later. I have email pushed to my phone. Service interruptions are not only unhelpful but can be and have been a disaster.

Still, I stayed with AT&T and a year ago added my fiance as another line. I have ads galore that tell me I can get a new phone for free or another phone at great discount by adding another line. We shopped around for suitable phones but were not happy with the options. Both our phones were still working so we put off buying another phone for later. We were told we were entitled to a new free phone or upgrade at any time and this would be noted to my account. This was a lie.

A month ago I started shopping for a new phone because my smartphone now barely functions. I was told again and again I could only get the discounted price on a new phone by signing a new contract. Finally I went back to the retail store where I signed my last contract and one patient sales associate explained to me there was no impetus to give me discount without the contract. When I explained to him what I was told earlier he explained my contract was almost up and they wanted assurance I would be locked into a new contract. Earlier promises were not valid. In fact, the promise that I could get a new phone or upgrade is ALWAYS in effect with the caveat that I sign a new contract. I said to him, “So, I should have bought a phone the last time I signed a contract and put it in a cabinet for later. It never carries over like they said?” He winced and gave me an affirmative nod. In the interim, other sales people were laughing at his patience with me, including the sales associate who sold me my last several hundred dollar smartphone. A call to AT&T customer service confirmed everything he said.

What have I learned? AT&T does not value long term customers. AT&T must allow their customer service representatives to insert biased, personal comments into customer accounts so that their bad day becomes our bad customer experience on and on, until we leave AT&T. AT&T will promise anything to get you to sign a contract even if they have to resort to dishonesty. The laughter I heard is from trained company representatives knowing I am stupid enough to keep my business with their company despite bad telephone service, bad customer service and misleading business practices. I deserve that laughter.

My contract is not the be-all-end-all for AT&T but my monthly bill for a personal account is over $125 per month, which is higher than most mobile customers I know. Meanwhile, I know there is little I can do about their crummy service but seek service elsewhere. When I worked at the Better Business Bureau one of our highest categories of complaint were for the mobile telecommunications industry. What I don't understand is why people put up with it.

Their search engine optimization is great. It took me until page 15 of a Google search for “AT&T” to hear what people are saying about them. (A later search for "AT&T Wireless" showed results on page three.) Too bad they can't control Twitter. If you really want to know what people are saying about AT&T go to http://search.twitter.com/ and enter AT&T into the search query.

I found a few choice articles that demonstrate I am not alone in my dissatisfaction. Read what the websites Digital Daily, Newser and FierceWireless have to say about AT&T.

What should I do? For one, I am shopping for alternatives to AT&T since my contract is about to expire. I am also going to file complaints with the FCC and the BBB. If all dissatisfied customers filed complaints, AT&T will not be able to continue denying they have service and customer service issues. Do you have other ideas? I welcome them.

Privacy - Giving It All Away

Facebook and other sites on the internet collect our names, the names of our spouses, partners, parents, children, friends, our birth dates, where we live, where we go when we leave our homes, where we work, what activities we enjoy, our ethnicities, where we went to school, where we grew up, details about our health and sexual orientation – quite simply, everything about us.

I have seen a number of employment advertisements lately requiring the applicant to include their Facebook link on their resume or in their cover letter. I find this alarming on a number of fronts. First, this precludes anyone who can not afford a computer or internet access from applying. I'll dismiss this fact early with the recognition that most people without a computer or internet access would not see or even seek to apply for these positions but that doesn't make it right. In general, I'm concerned a lack of access to computers and internet service will leave a sizable chunk of people who want to get ahead behind but that is a whole other post.

I quit Facebook in 2008 before the great surge of people joined. I was alarmed when I joined because no other site wanted as much information from me to set up an account. It went downhill from there. People linked photographs and wrote things on my wall I did not want associated with me. There is a mechanism to remove these things but again and again it did not work. Facebook would not assist me with these problems. They also refused to let me change my name to my initials followed by my last name. They said it wasn't my real name. Really? I have been known as E.L. Devlin many places. Would they give that kind of attitude to E.L. Doctorow? (I'm not saying I compare in a literary sense but hope you get my drift.)

By the time Facebook had become big, I was glad I was not in that arena. I've always been cautious on-line, not nearly as cautious as I know I should be but I accept some times I make trade offs for self expression. I love computers, technology and the internet so something has to give.

I've been dipping my foot in this pond for a long time (in internet chronology) but when I let loose, it has been under a pseudonym. My business is not the internet or anything related to it and I see no reason I should be barred from it. My business IS being discreet with other people's personal information and I do that very well. I believe what I do when I am not being paid by a client or employer should be my concern as long as I do nothing immoral or illegal and as long as I do not bring a client or employer into the equation. Most people don't know what I do even when I tell them. I like that.

Facebook and other sites on the internet collect our names, the names of our spouses, partners, parents, children, friends, our birth dates, where we live, where we go when we leave our homes, where we work, what activities we enjoy, our ethnicities, where we went to school, where we grew up, details about our health and sexual orientation – quite simply, everything about us. Now Foursquare has announced they won't credit check-ins toward badges without GPS confirmation. Even Twitter is getting in on the game by adding location information to tweets based on GPS coordinates. The first thing I did when I bought my smartphone was turn off the GPS. It is bad enough my phone company knows where I am at all times; I should not need to broadcast it to the world if I don't want to.

With a name, date of birth, mother's maiden name and social security number anyone can BE us. By telling someone where you were born anyone can know the first three digits of your social security number. People give banks, utility companies and credit card companies the last four digits of their social security numbers as personal identifiers. How hard is it to figure out the middle two digits from zero to ninety nine? Not very, as this post from Carnegie Mellon pointed out.

Aside from the often addressed concerns of identity theft new media makes our civil rights virtually obsolete. A hiring manager or landlord can decide who they want to hire or rent to, above and beyond capability, good citizenship and credit worthiness. As long as that person is on-line, there is a good probability they will get exactly what they want. Don't want anyone over thirty-five working for you because they generally cost more in wages and health benefits and are hopelessly unhip? Human Resources can screen out those people before they are even called back for a first round telephone interview. Don't want homosexuals or single mothers living in your apartment building because you hold moral judgments against them? As long as the applicant has an on-line profile, you will know them before inviting them to view your property. The beauty of this screening is, the applicant never knows they are in contention for the position or the home and therefore can not prove suit for violation of their civil rights. They are not even aware it happened or that they materially assisted in their own defeat.

There are now aggregator sites which use algorithms to gather information about individuals from various different web sites and public records. These advertise one stop shopping for people seeking complete personal profiles on other individuals. As if being hoisted on your own petard is not bad enough, often the information gathered is inaccurate. In one personal profile which contains a photograph of me, I am listed as an African American Texan in my seventies. I am sure there are times when misinformation could work in one's favour but I hazard to guess that is not the reality for most. I am purposely not naming any of these sites since any publicity can be good publicity. Some of these companies do have mechanisms for removing your information from their site but one article I read on Snopes.com noted attempts to do so yielded no end result other than allowing the company to have yet another email address to add to their database.

It is anyone's guess where this new media dystopia may lead us. Laws have not come close to keeping up with technology and how humans use it. Precedence setting cases are being heard everyday in courts across the world but it is too soon to know whether the convenience of technology will make privacy and civil rights a distant memory. Are you comfortable with these changes? How do you feel about some companies requiring their employees to have an on-line profile? Do you think the trade offs are worth the benefits? Or am I worrying too late because the horse is already out of the barn and in another county?

Image courtesy New School University

Is a Personal Social Network Emergency Notification Plan Necessary?

It started with not feeling well one Sunday morning – stuffy sinuses, sore throat and cough. I had a number of things to get done so I set to work without checking into Twitter. As I was going about my manual tasks I had plenty of time to think. What if I never went back to my social networking sites? What if, for some reason, I couldn't?

Before you starting thinking I am being morbid and melodramatic consider my sister had a stroke and aneurysm when she was exactly my age. She has neither worked nor lived independently since and she has lost her ability to communicate with all but her daughter. I've somewhat dreaded this year of my life and look forward to getting past it.

I've seen a few articles about setting up a contingency plan to inform one's social network in the event of a personal emergency. They suggest giving a trusted loved one passwords so they may communicate on your behalf. Since I am on many different sites and change my passwords regularly this is impractical. I suggest keeping a list of the sites you frequent, the email addresses attached to them and the passwords for those email addresses. Make sure your loved one keeps this information locked up in a safe place. If it becomes necessary, they can retrieve your password information through your email.

But that is not what this post is about.

My thoughts continued to wander to the point of wondering, if I disappeared would anyone in my virtual network notice? If so, who? Would it be who I would expect? When would they notice? I decided to perform an little experiment to find out and then write about my findings.

I checked my Twitter profile to make sure none of my recent tweets would cause concern. One of my Twitter friends has been missing since October. I know from his tweet stream he was headed out to a birthday party that night. I truly hope nothing happened to him. My stream appeared clean of any such red flags.

To get a sense of how likely it would be that anyone would notice my absence it should be noted that www.howoftendoyoutweet.com indicates I tweet or otherwise feed into my tweet stream an average of 86 times per day. Since this is an average it would not be unusual for me to only tweet ten times during the course of a day but to tweet nothing is unusual for me. This means I also had to avoid sending Twitpics, commenting on blogs, posting to my Posterous site or Flickr, sending emails or text messages or doing anything else that would indicate my presence on the web. After the first day I dreamed I accidentally retweeted someone while watching Twitter so I stayed off the computer after that.

Similar to many detractors of social media, I agree it is often a narcissistic pursuit. How else does one justify exposing one's activities, ideas and interests to random strangers if not to get some validation? I'm constantly amazed anyone cares enough to respond to me on the internet but then again, they are likely seeking validation in return. A certain amount of narcissism is healthy but I'm under no illusion people have my blog on a reading list or hover over my Twitter profile page waiting to see a twitpic of my lunch. Thus I was a little surprised when I received my first text message, noting my absence, Sunday night.

After this I heard nothing until Tuesday when I received another text message from a different person. Later on Tuesday I received another text from a third person. I debated what to do about these messages. I didn't want to skew the results of my experiment but it was also not my intention to unduly alarm anyone. I decided to message these three people, tell them what I was doing and ask them to pretend they had not heard from me. They thanked me and agreed to say nothing. On Wednesday I received an email from a fourth person indicating he and a fifth person were concerned about me and asking if there was anything they could do for me. I thanked them for their concern and filled them in on what I was doing. That afternoon I received another text from a sixth person but she seemed more curious than concerned so I didn't think I needed to reassure her by responding. A seventh person texted me late Wednesday night and I let her know what I was doing. She is the only one who sent a message to both my Twitter accounts. In addition to these seven people my Twitter replies tab shows me five other people noticed I was not tweeting – one on Monday, one on Tuesday, two on Wednesday and one on Thursday. This is a total of eleven people (six women and five men) or .18% of the people who openly follow my movements on the internet. Of these eleven people only three have met me in person and none were members of my family.

I can not say I am surprised by these results. A phrase of my Mother's comes to mind - “out of sight, out of mind.” I have several virtual friends I am concerned about because I have not heard from them in a while but after searching the web for activity from them there is only one who has completely dropped off the map. Also, I've only been inactive for five days. That is enough time for twenty people to unfollow me but not quite enough time for anyone to bury me.

One thing I learned from this is, I do not need a contingency plan in case anything happens to me. As long as a few people have my phone number they can text my phone and my partner can let them know what is going on. I may take the time to teach him how to respond to a Twitter DM sent to my phone but that should be sufficient. I may give his phone number to a couple people as a backup, in case anything happens to my phone, but anything more than that is exaggerating my importance to my social networking community.

What do you think of the results of my experiment? Would you have performed it differently? Would you be satisfied with these results from your own virtual community? Let me know your thoughts.

(Special thank yous go out to Rhonda, Rosy, Scott, Brendyn, Don, Amy, Margaret, Marcy, Paul, Ralph and Sarah for wondering where I was. You guys are the best!)

Image courtesy of http://www.punchstock.com)

Social Media Family, Friends, Colleagues and Neighbors: What I've Learned About Online Relationships

I have been involved in social media for a little over two years. Few people would disagree I am more on the social side of it than the media side but as a person with endless curiosity and a thirst to learn, I read about it, attend webinars and seminars and discuss it with others who have similar interests. I have not (yet) used it to conduct or promote business but I know many people who do and I understand how they use it. My circle of acquaintances is wide and varied across several nations; another reflection of my desire to be exposed to different ideas, cultures and lifestyles and learn from them.

Lately I have been thinking about how these relationships would be defined in terms used prior to the advent of social media. Some are obvious such as family and friends who were made prior to communicating on line. The few people I discuss possible future business collaboration with I think of as colleagues – by joining together we may mutually benefit each other with our collective talent. There are those who I enjoy speaking with but would probably never meet for a cup of coffee - these I consider neighbors. There are people who live local or have come through Boston and made a point of scheduling time to see me. When we hit it off and can sit comfortably talking for hours with no agenda, I consider these people new friends. There are instances where some of these can overlap as in when a neighbor or friend and I discover we have a mutual interest we can collaborate on. This can lead to a neighbor becoming a friend because we've found something mutual we share but there are times the connection morphs more into a colleague relationship. Given time and trust a colleague can become a friend.

Sometimes relationships are not so easily defined. The challenge there, just as in times prior to social media, is balancing how much one is willing to sink into the relationship compared to the potential return. Recently I was out with some friends I've met through social media. I brought up something minor but which troubled me none the less, hoping that by airing it, they could give me insight. They changed the subject. I steered back onto the topic which they immediately deflected. It hit me then: these are not your friends. Reflecting on this I realize, I potentially have something to offer them but minus this commonality, they likely would have nothing to do with me. And that is fine. We do have that one commonality and by working with them, under their rules, I can possibly create change in something I care about. Now I just have to decide whether I want to work with them to create this change, work alone, or not work at all.

The complexity of relationships hasn't changed with the advent of social media. Social media has just added another layer of complexity. There are and have always been relationships we nurture with the prospect of no gain aside from how they make us feel. This happens in social media, too. Sometimes it is harder to identify, though just as important to go into with not only our minds and hearts, but also our eyes, wide open.

Photograph used under creative commons license courtesy of red daisies

What Constitutes Fair Play in The Social Media Playground?

I recently came across a web article exposing a social media certification program as “nonsense.” I won't get into whether I agree or disagree. Anyone who knows me can probably guess my opinion but that is not the point of this post. The article in question absolutely skewered the partners and company offering the program. It makes me uneasy when people do that. I've ranted about a few very large companies I've had customer service issues with but as a paying customer, I have some right to do that. I try not to attack individuals but will instead comment on the behavior that disturbs me. I have many reasons for this but the main one is, I don't put myself above other people. I will satire a group but what if I am wrong about the individual? I've only walked in MY moccasins.

I find this trend of trying to make money teaching others social media disturbing. There is a purpose and place for this but not nearly to the degree it is being exploited. I agree with the author's point that anyone teaching social media should have some accreditation in the field but no formal accreditation exists (at least that I am aware of). I believe anyone with any common sense would not spend three thousand dollars for the particular program being offered. Those without common sense would be unlikely to read the article attacking the program. People seeking a magic bullet don't want to be confused by research and logic. I do not condone people taking advantage of other people. I also get angry with people who will cheapen an industry with their incompetence but it happens in every industry. Like the Lernaean Hydra, chop off one head and another will replace it. What these companies do may be at best, unprofessional and at worst, immoral but if they aren't breaking any laws, they are just capitalizing on a need. None of us has to like it but they have a right to do it.

As I researched and read off-shoots of this article and articles about the article I came back to another question I keep asking anyone who might answer: What is a social media expert? I've been asking this question for a long time. Many people I know who are knowledgeable about social media ask the same question. Most of the people I respect agree there is no definition. Social networking has been around for well over a decade but it didn't have a name at first. When it finally got a name, the average person couldn't have told you what it was. Today millions of unique visitors use social media and social networking. Most people have no idea how to use this tool to their best advantage. I know several people I would consider social media experts but not being an expert myself, my opinion hardly matters. What I do know is, there is a lot of infighting. When articles are posted such as the ones I read before writing this, many of the same people clamor to comment and show their authority. There is judgment, one-upmanship and ass kissing. I am not saying that is all I see. I also see a free exchange of ideas and knowledge. What I am saying is, before raising someone else on a pike because they are throwing sand in the playground maybe some of the experts should reflect on how they appear to the rest of us. You may be different but when you behave that way, are you really better?

(Photo credit: phauly www.flickr.com/photos/phauly/35555985 Creative Commons License)

An Overview of the New Retweet Feature on Twitter.com

Twitter has been gradually rolling out a number of changes in what appears to be their attempt to make third party web applications obsolete. This post will discuss the new “retweet” function on Twitter.com, the original website for Twitter. There has been much discussion about how this would look once applied. Most of the chatter I have heard has not been in favour of changing how people currently retweet. This is, I think, understandable given the fact that retweets grew organically from Twitter users and we are protective of the creative way we mould media to suit our needs. 
Briefly, for those who may not be familiar, a retweet is the reposting of a tweet that an individual feels is worthy of sharing with their followers. The traditional means of tweeting this are as follows,

RT: @personquoted Space aliens invade Punxsutawney, PA and kidnap Phil.

You spread the news but the original person gets credit for saying it first. Twitter can be a wonderfully democratic.

In the header photograph the conventional retweet formula is in violet. Notice there are two “RT”s which means this is the second time this is being repeated. This means the original message has most likely been shortened to accommodate two user names as well as the original message. The orange shows a retweet done by a third party application. Rather than starting with “RT” it ends in “via” and then posts the user name. This method can be confusing to some who mistake it for an original statement. The new retweet feature is pointed out in yellow. There is a symbol at the front of the tweet representing “retweet.” The avatar and user name is of the original person who posted the tweet. The retweet appears unaltered with the person who retweeted it, in your stream, listed at the end. It may have been retweeted several times but you will not see this in the home screen.

To examine retweets click on “Retweets” in the right hand column. This brings up a three tabbed screen with “Retweets by others,” Retweets by you” and “Your tweets, retweeted.”

The first tab shows everything that has been retweeted by anyone you follow. The avatar and name is of the person who originally posted the tweet but one can see who retweeted it to your stream by referencing the name after the tweet. Also shown are other people who have retweeted the same tweet. This is good because you can still be exposed to people outside your stream and get an idea of who may produce content that you are interested in. People may argue the original method of seeing their name in the retweet did the same thing but this is a sacrifice for being able to read the original message in it entirety.

The other two tabs are self explanatory. They show posts you have retweeted to those who follow you and posts where others have retweeted your original content. With these tabs you can examine where a retweet was before you saw it and you can track where your own original content is spread.

Through the good graces of Amy Palmer (@BoSoxAmy), Douglas Breault (@GenKreton) and Jeff Reneker (@jreneker) I was able to experiment with the retweet function and use their eyes to get an idea of what they saw in their stream. We discovered that retweets of mutual followers do not show up in an individual’s main stream. This makes sense from an efficiency standpoint since it leads to a less cluttered stream but there are times a person only catches a general post upon seeing a retweet from a mutual friend. I can see where some people won’t like this. If a person retweets another who their followers don’t follow this will appear in their stream. If someone you follow often retweets another person you don’t follow and these updates are posts you would rather not see (which is why you aren’t following them in the first place) the only way I am aware of to prevent being barraged with these retweets is to block the person you do not follow from appearing in your stream. This could become a somewhat hostile move but I can’t think of another way around it. I am very sensitive about whom I block because, while they may not be my cup of tea, they have a right to be heard and with all the spammers about, someone who is blocked too often could be seen as suspect. I hope Twitter will find another work around to this problem so that people do not have to block others just to avoid seeing them retweeted in their stream. If you go to the profile of someone you follow you can manually turn off all their retweets. If the only person they ever retweet is @Hitler this is a practical solution but chances are that is not all they retweet so turning this off means losing that potential value added content.

Another notable is, the retweet function does not work for protected accounts. The only way to retweet a post from a protected friend is to manually cut and paste or hand type it. Also, the retweet button does not allow a person to add to or change the original content of a tweet. This helps preserves the author’s original words and intent. It is arguably the best and primary reason for having a retweet button. No longer will words be cut out and spelling changed to accommodate a person’s user name. All that said, I am certain there will be a lot of backlash on this because people really LOVE to add their own two cents to retweets. The only thing I don’t like about the direct quote is not being able to delete “please retweet” or “pls RT” from the end of a retweeted post. A post should be retweeted because it has value to an audience, not because someone asks. I don’t add this to posts because I have faith in the intelligence of my followers. They know their audience and will retweet what I write if it has value to them and the people who follow them. If it doesn’t they won’t. That is the way it should be.

Finally, a person won’t see themselves retweeted in their stream. Gone are the ego gratifying days where you post something and see it catch fire across Twitter. Now you have to go to the “Your tweets, retweeted” screen to see this. I think this is a good thing. There are other metrics to determine your impact on Twitter. Why not use them and spend your time on Twitter connecting with your audience and hearing what they have to say? A cleaner stream will allow you to do just that. Plus, with any luck, you’ll learn something.

Who Is The FTC Sleeping With?

Much has been written this past week about the Federal Trade Commission's "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising" which goes into effect December 1st, 2009. These guidelines effect all persons providing commentary (reviews) on products for which they have received any form of material compensation in exchange for their commentary. The FTC seems to be giving a pass to traditional media outlets such as newspaper, television, radio and magazine news outlets and concentrates on "real" individuals who give testimonials in exchange for money or products. Going forward these individuals have to disclose when they are receiving material compensation or face fines for not doing so.

Personally I think people should have been doing this all along and some have. Better bloggers will not risk ruining their credibility by endorsing a product which is substandard. Most consumers are smarter than the FTC seems to think. Consumers who are naive enough to grant credibility to a sponsored review on a blog or an infomercial are as likely to believe the same sort of fluff from a "valid" news organization or a magazine which has to print "advertisement" over a rave review for the next big thing.

Since they don't appear to be doing much with these guidelines to protect consumers from themselves, what is the FTC really doing? Are they now in the business of regulating what qualifies as news? Several articles I've read have expressed this concern and I think it is valid. It deserves close scrutiny to examine how that all plays out. When Government gets involved in judging what is legitimate news and insinuating citizen journalism is illegitimate they are walking dangerously close to censorship similar to the Chinese model. I'm not sure that is what they are attempting to do nor do I think, if this were the FTCs motive, they could get away with it long term. There are too many individuals and lawyers to challenge them.

What I have seen curiously absent is any mention of material compensation being monitored as income. At least I find it curious and I am not much of a conspiracy theorist. The United States is in the midst of an economic recession and the United States budget is running a previously incomprehensible deficit. Anyone would be foolish to think the United States Federal Government doesn't need as many tax dollars as it can get its hands on. You're likely thinking bloggers who collect Adsense revenue and the occasional freebie in exchange for a review are making peanuts for their efforts and in many cases you may be right but there is no doubt some freelancers are making a living from web content.

Freelancers are self employed and it is generally easier for the self employed to juggle their books to appear as though they are making less income than they actually are. I can attest to this since part of my profession is to indemnify people for loss of income. The cost of these policies are partially based on the amount of income a person makes which is determined by how much the individual claims on their income taxes. When it comes time to collect on these indemnity policies it is not at all unusual for the policy holder to miraculously present alternate proof their actual income is greater than previously stated.

As the public turns away from traditional media in favour of the internet and advertisers turn from conventional print advertising to viral and guerrilla internet marketing techniques there are increasingly more opportunities for individual freelancers to profit from new media. If PR firms are seeing this, I am seeing this, and freelancers are seeing this wouldn't it be naive to think the United States Federal Government isn't? Rather than wondering whether the FTC is crawling into bed with the FCC why isn't anyone wondering whether they are crawling into bed with the IRS?

Here Is My Link

Dear Guru SEO Affiliate Marketing Expert Designer Person,

You sent me a link so I thought it would be rude of me to not send my own. I'm fully aware you won't read this because you don't have any more time to read unsolicited material from a stranger than I do. Still, my Mama raised me to be polite so I'm taking time from my busy day to write this to you.

I would hate for you to think sending out that link was a waste of time for the computer program you used to generate it so I want to reassure you; I know exactly what your link says. It tells me how wonderful you are and details the myriad accomplishments you have achieved to make you the best there is at what you do. If I stick with you, I am certainly going to achieve unimaginable heights. All I have to do is purchase and read your e-book, listen to your recording, attend your workshop, hire your company and follow all your instructions implicitly. This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I am sure to succeed and if by chance I don’t, it is because I don’t know how to follow directions. It has nothing to do with you since your plan is fool proof and is the reason you are so wildly accomplished.

You can’t imagine how pleased I am that YOU, out of the kindness of your heart, have chosen ME to share your success with. I don't know what it is that made you single me out but I am grateful beyond my ability to express it. I am also humbled because unlike you, I have nothing to sell. Sure, I have causes I champion and sometimes I ask for donations or support for those causes but you can feel free to disregard any of those causes you don't personally feel passion for. I certainly will never direct message you with anything like that because I know you are a busy, busy person and frankly, those messages can be intrusive.

I hope, in return for your largesse, you allow me to be of any assistance I can to you. I know it is unlikely I have anything you could possibly need but I just wanted to put the offer out there. I've been doing a great deal of listening and learning about this new media thing and I am happy to help anyone who asks. I don't have an e-book or product like that because I like to keep things on a more personal, one-on-one basis. I also don't have any mechanism to charge you for my assistance but that hasn't been a problem in the past. Heck, it works out better for you that way because whatever I give for free is valueless and you don't have to feel any obligation toward me.

Thank you for reaching out to me and sharing your specialness. I look forward to our long and fruitful relationship.

Sincerely,

Little Ole Me

(Graphic courtesy of Rhonda Hitchcock)

Twitter for the Social Media Fledgling

I intend for this to be the most basic Twitter tutorial I can craft. I am not writing it for marketers, public relations professionals, developers, web designers or the myriad others who use Twitter for business. I am writing this for average folk who want to speak with their friends through Twitter, make new friends, and keep up with current trends, news and art. This is not to say there are not professionals who might not benefit from reading this. I’ve seen some business accounts that make me wince but from what I can tell, they won’t read this because they already know it all.

When setting up a profile, chose a user name that is catchy and easy to remember. I realize this is easier said than done because many good names have already been taken by the millions of twitter subscribers already enrolled. Just keep in mind, in order to experience Twitter to its fullest, you want people to be able to communicate easily with you. A bizarrely spelled name followed by random numbers is not going to be easy to remember and further, people are likely to think your account is spam. The shorter the name is, the easier it will be for others to remember, though if your actual name is available and you feel comfortable using it on Twitter, people will remember it once they get to know you. Look at other people’s profiles to get an idea what is effective in a user name.

Under the settings section, account tab where it asks for your name, put your real name. If you do not feel comfortable putting your first and last name, just put your first name. People want to know there is a person behind your profile.

Where it asks for “More info URL” put the web address of your web page or blog. Some people put their My Space, Facebook or LinkedIn address in here if they have no web page and this is fine. There are Twitter snobs who look down on that because they don’t think you should be on Twitter if you have not made the effort to put together something so that people can get to know you better but feel free to ignore them as you would ignore snobs you encounter in real life. If you have no other web address, leave this space blank. My only word of advice regarding this field is, if you want people to visit your site, do not use an URL shorter such as bit.ly or tinyURL to shorten the address. People want to know where they are being directed to and likely won’t click on one of these shortened addresses for fear of being routed to a site which contains viruses.

Where it asks for your location enter where you live. If you don’t want to be specific because of security concerns, put your state or region such as Metro Boston, Southern New Hampshire, New England, Mid West, New South Wales, or Rhine Valley. People want a sense of where someone is from when they are communicating with them. The phrases “here, there and everywhere” and “somewhere over the rainbow” are no where near as clever as you think.

At the settings section, picture tab where it asks you to upload a picture upload a picture of yourself. If you don’t like any pictures of yourself or are self conscious of your looks, be creative. You can take a picture of a portion of your face, your face in shadow or wearing sunglasses. Do not use a logo unless you are on Twitter to do business and it is your logo. It is wise to not use cartoons or a well known person’s likeness as this could get you sued and, unless you have a verified account, you'll come off as false. If you really, really do not want to post your photograph, upload a picture of something which represents who you are. A marine biologist could post a starfish. A writer could post a computer or typewriter. A baseball enthusiast could post a baseball or bat. Whatever you do, DO NOT leave the default twitter avatar as your picture. People will think you are spam and will block you.

The devices tab is where you can arrange for your friends’ updates to forward to your mobile phone. I would not recommend this for anyone who does not have an unlimited text plan. Turning updates “on” forwards ALL the tweets from the people you follow to your phone. Unless you intend Twitter to be your entire life, don’t turn this on. You will be bombarded with messages. Another option is to set the drop down box to “direct message.” In this instance the only messages sent to your phone are private direct messages. I know many people who chose this option but if you follow many people, this too could be overwhelming. You will have to make this decision for yourself.

If you are going to toy around under the design tab, make sure whatever you choose is easy to read. No one will be able to read navy letters on a black background so your profile will be ignored by everyone but spammers and marketers trying to sell you enemas. If you choose something other than the default cloud background people will see you at least made an effort to be an individual. If you want to make a greater effort choose a background photo that shows where you come from or part of your personality - just make sure it is not too busy or distracting. Checking “tile background” will make sure the image covers the entire background of your profile.

Now you think you are ready to tweet? Not so fast. There is another thing you should know. EVERYTHING you tweet is forever. Sure, there is a delete icon on Twitter.com but that only erases it from the site. Once you tweet something it remains on a server and can be searched through search.twitter.com and other search engines. All it takes is someone industrious who knows it is there. I’m not saying this to scare you but just so you will be a conscious tweeter.

NOW you are ready to tweet. Don't take the directive “What's happening?” too seriously. For your first tweet, we already know what you're doing - you're tweeting. Instead think about why you've joined Twitter. (Please don't say, "Because everyone is doing it." If that is your motivation, please stop reading this and go back to Facebook.) Who do you want to connect with? If it is friends who are on Twitter, you can tweet them and follow their lead. If you want to meet people with common interests tweet something about that. "I am excited to meet people who love gardening as much as I do and with whom I can share tips.” People will find you through search.twitter.com if they search the key word “gardening.” You can find people to follow using the same search. People who ask to follow you will appear under the heading of “Followers” in the center column, right hand side. Click this heading to see who they are. Click their avatar or name to see their profile. If you would like to follow them back, you can do so from their profile (click “Follow”) or from your own Follower screen (click the head symbol with the plus sign). You will get spam followers who have no tweets, only have links to bad sites which upload viruses to your computer, don’t talk with others or have links to porn or pathetic marketing sites (the equivalent of those infomercials on TV after 2AM). Approach with caution and don’t click on something until you have a good sense that it is trustworthy. Even the link within the profile can be bad news. Take your time to look around Twitter and get an idea of what is safe and what looks fishy.

You have now looked around, followed some people and had others follow you back. (Be patient. It is slow going at first but once you develop relationships with more people, your following will increase exponentially.) You will want to reply to things people have tweeted or simply give them a greeting of welcome. To reply hover your mouse over the right hand side of the tweet. (See diagram to the left.) An arrow will appear. Click on the arrow and it will both fill in their user name in the text box at the top of the screen and link to what you reply to. Within the text box, after the person’s user name, type your comment and hit send. This message will show up under their user name tab and in their Twitter stream (provided they are following you). Even if they are not following you, don't be discouraged. Reply away! If you contribute something valuable, they will soon follow you. (This doesn't necessarily hold true for celebrities of any stripe. Unless they genuinely contribute to your tweet flow, beat feet and get them out of your way. They are only using you to stoke their egos.) Since Twitter is not instant messaging, there may be times when someone responds to something you said or asked much later. Out of context, you may not know what they are replying to. If they replied correctly (by hitting the "reply to" arrow), you can click on the gray "in reply to" text under the tweet and it will show the tweet they responded to. Clicking on the time stamp will bring up the tweet separately in its own window. Knowing this is handy if you want to forward an individual tweet to someone. Simply copy the url above the tweet. I also do this if I want to get a better look at an individual's background. Some people use services such as twitbacks to put additional information about themselves on their Twitter background.

Now that you are tweeting, there are countless Twitter applications available to enhance and make your experience easier. There are also auto responder, tweet later and auto follow back applications. If you use an auto follow back system to follow back everyone who follows you, you will end up following robots and spammers in addition to actual people. I don't recommend doing this. You will grow your following numbers more quickly this way but your stream will be filled with garbage. Some people use auto direct message applications to thank people for following them. I find this disingenuous and unfollow people who send out these messages, particularly if they contain a link to their website. If someone is truly grateful to me for following them, they would not need a robot to deliver this message. Sending a link insults my intelligence because I have already checked out your website if I am following you. I'm also not a big fan of applications which send out scheduled messages. People who use Twitter successfully engage other people. If a robot is sending tweets for you, you are likely not at your computer to respond to comments and questions. I can see the value of a service like this if you are in a vastly different time zone than your audience but remember the limitations on engagement.

I hope I have been clear and thorough with my explanation for setting up a Twitter account and getting started. I will happily answer any other questions left for me in the comments section or you can follow @MsDevlin on Twitter. Happy tweeting!