A Demonstrative Anecdote

An interesting conversation with a small business owner got me thinking of a topic about which I have very strong opinions. The business owner asked me if I found his recently installed security cameras offensive. I replied, “On the contrary, I think you should have done this long ago.”

I sometimes joke, “I've had every job it is legal to do.” While this is not accurate I have had a wide range of professions that seem disjointed when I list them but actually flowed organically from one to another. The story I recounted to the small business owner is one of them.

Before I get into the meat of the story you must understand there are few things I tolerate less than theft. My parents taught me everything worth having is worth working for. Life has taught me people who steal not only victimize those they steal from but they victimize those around them when they get a jump ahead of honest folks. I know it is old fashioned to believe in honest gains. People will say “everyone steals” or “everyone is dishonest. I'm not doing anything that everyone else isn't.” If you can think this way and sleep at night, more power to you but I can't. Thieves really piss me off.

After college I worked as a Manager Trainee for Radio Shack. There is a lot of theft in retail. There was at least one occasion where I hurled my high heels at the head of a retreating shoplifter. What is harder to take is the inside job. This means one of your co-workers can't be trusted. It is difficult to work in an atmosphere of distrust especially when one knows that until the culprit is caught, you are not without suspicion.

A ten thousand dollar business computer system turned up missing during inventory. At the time, ten thousand dollars was no small sum. I couldn't even imagine how someone could get so much machinery outside the store with no one seeing. Computers were still large in the late 1980's, early 1990's. Since there was no sign of breaking and entering and business systems were not sold in the retail store, I figured it had to be an internal theft.

I kept my eyes and ears opened and settled on one suspect. He was a computer prodigy and the youngest of the employees in the Business Division. He also took a shine to me, although that is not unusual since there were very few women working in retail electronics during the turn of that decade. He invited me to dinner at his home. With some reservation, I agreed. While there, I took down the serial number of his very impressive computer system. It was not difficult because he was proud of it and showed it off. It was state of the art and worth almost half my income at the time. His story of how he came to own it was flawed in many ways but what did I know? Back then, women in retail electronics were not considered very intelligent. All the guys knew they only made sales based on their gender.

You know where this is going. The serial number matched the stolen system. Men flew in from Fort Worth and I was a temporary but quiet celebrity after the Fort Worth Executives and the Boston Police Department knocked on his door and found the computer exactly where I said it would be. Mr. Prodigy was arrested and lost his job but as I told him when he called me, hoping I would stand by his side through the ordeal, “None of this would have happened if you had not stolen the computer in the first place.”

Other than eliminating myself from suspicion, I received nothing from my detective work. I received no promotion to my own store (the natural progression for a Manager Trainee) and no bonus but it did give me a convenient segue into a career in Loss Prevention. Did I mention there are few things I tolerate less than theft?

(Image from: http://www.watchingthenet.com/)

Good. And You?

I can not think of a social convention that irritates me more than being asked the question, "How are you?" Though many people won't admit it, I know I am not the only one. Years ago there was a group of us who greeted each other with the phrase, "Good. And you?" It was our way of thumbing our noses at convention and cutting to the chase.

Many people feel it is necessary to greet each other this way but they seldom listen to the answer so there is no value in asking the question. It is disingenuous and, at least for me, has the opposite effect originally intended. I know I have an obligation to respond, "I am well, thank you. How are you?" I don't like people making me feel obligated to do anything, especially when it is the clerk in my grocery store, my librarian, the fellow at the dry cleaners or my neighbor's daughter wanting to sell me girl scout cookies. How is it social to obligate someone to participate in a phony conversation? In the event I am not well, I dislike responding "good" or "well" because this is a lie but this is an instance where it is socially polite to lie. Now the questioner has obligated me to not only participate in a conversation I'd rather not but they've also obligated me to lie. Further, I am obligated to ask the same question in return. I personally do not believe in asking questions to which I do not expect an honest answer but I also do not want to know that the cashier at my grocery store has plantar fasciitis and their feet are killing them. I am not an uncaring person but I can't fix their problem and frankly, I just need to get home to cook dinner.

In business, when answering my telephone often the first question I am asked is, "How are you?" My stock response is, "How may I be of assistance to you?" More often than not, because the caller didn't care in the first place, they tell me why they are calling but once this did not happen. The caller asked me again, "How are you?" I repeated my offer of assistance. The caller stated he would tell me as soon as I answered his question. This forced me to explain, while I appreciated his inquiry, my welfare was none of his concern but I was eager to find out what service I could be to him. The caller became belligerent (which was likely his intent to begin with) and it took me several minutes to find out what he needed. Again I ask, how is this social?

Does all this mean I don't care about people? Of course not. I care a great deal about people. I am not going to ask a stranger how they are because it is none of my business. If they want to tell me, they will and I will
listen as sympathetically and with as much support or praise as time permits. I care even more deeply for my friends; both real life friends and friends I have a virtual relationships with. I show I care by listening. If something is wrong they need support with, they will tell me, either straight out or in the other things they say to me or to other friends we share. If everything is going well for them I will hear this the same way and rejoice in their happiness.

I'd like to see the new social convention be to listen. Anyone who really cares will close their mouth and open their ears and heart. What do you think?

Brush With Dyslexia

This is a story about a failed educational system and one person’s triumph over adversity inflicted by that failed system. Above is a picture of my brother, the hero of my childhood. He was the baby of the family until I showed up twelve years later.  I adore him.

At some point in his education the Chatham, Massachusetts school system decided he had dyslexia. As a small child I didn’t know exactly what this meant but as soon as I could read I was helping him decipher things. I even had to dial the phone for him because he was convinced he would dial a wrong number as he couldn’t read the keys correctly. I loved helping my brother. It made me feel useful and special.

I never doubted what the school said because my brother and my parents didn’t. In retrospect, I should have. In middle school, classes were divided into high, medium and low. The high class were the brightest children and the low class consisted of the slowest learners.  I was placed in the low class where I consistently received good grades. In high school I tested within the genius range and made the National Honor Society. This didn’t make me angry until I was in college where I realized I could have done so much more had my middle school years not been wasted being taught down to. I suspect it is because my family was poor and Chatham, being a very classist town, assumed poor children must have lower than average intelligence. I still feel stupid and believe I am not performing up to my potential. Try as I might, the building blocks weren’t there and I doubt I will outgrow the insecurity.

My brother went onto technical school where he earned his high school diploma and became the most talented carpenter and jack-of-all-trades I’ve ever met. There was nothing that man couldn’t do with his hands.

Years later, my brother called me to tell me he had just tested at a Grade 15 level. I don’t remember what he was testing for, and doubt I asked, because I was floored.  He tested as a junior in college. Further, he told me, they determined he was not dyslexic. After that, he started reading and writing. Similar to me, the ground work he should have had was not there but he did as best he could, miles beyond anything he had done the first thirty-five years of his life. In conversations after he lost the dyslexic label, he would casually mention something he read and I could hear the pride in his voice.  I can not think pride is always a sin when someone overcomes what he did.  I was proud of him, too. Once that label was removed, he never looked back. He didn’t say, “I can’t.” He could and he did and it only made me love him more.

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.