How I Met Your Mother/Microsoft Product Placement

Yesterday's broadcast of US sitcom How I Met Your Mother had more than a few nods to Microsoft-related products. The interwebs spotted them. As did Manchester SEO.

Bing Maps



Bing.com



Xbox 360

The seven deadly sins of a social media strategy

Lust

Do not be lustful for the content of others. If you admire a piece of work, credit the author or website rather than passing the news off as your own. Lust clouds the judgement, causing those under its gaze to lose sight of the real goal: writing content good enough for others to lust after.

Gluttony

The gluttonous social media account fills its feed with updates. Be wary of constantly posting content, lest your followers or fans become weary of your presence. Feed your status bar with relevant information at regular intervals and all shall be well.

Greed

Greed can consume a social media profile. But the greed for followers, fans, comments and website traffic can become tragic. Heed this: do not succumb to the whims of the weak-minded social media profile with constant RT-to-win competitions, for they are annoying. Create sustainable relationships on Twitter or Facebook and the numbers will follow.

Envy

It is easy to be envious of the work of your contemporaries. But do not let that envy prevent you from taking part in social media. Good social media campaigns comment and RT on the fruitful labours of others. Do not allow your envious pangs to cloud your judgement in your quest for success.

Pride

Pride is one of the worst sins for a social media account; a profile which does nothing but blow its own trumpet and celebrate its own client wins, staff expansion and account successes. But, be warned. A boastful social media account is not an engaging one. You are more likely to draw in friends with your modesty and humility than you are with your pride.

Sloth

The sloth account does not care for @ mentions or direct messages and it has no desire to respond to comments or questions. It would merely like to be left alone. Be not slothful, for a slothful social media strategy is not a successful one. Answer your messages with the promptness you would care for your own enquiries.

Wrath

Temper your mood before committing fingers to keys. Remain pleasant in the face of criticism and listen to the opinions of others before unleashing your wrath onto the heads of those who follow your messages. Be reasonable and understand that no good comes from a blasphemous tongue.

Technology gets emotional - six adverts to make you weepy

Twitter

In brief: Chap prepares for a date with girlfriend. Ignores date for the entire evening. Prefers to use Twitter instead.

Subliminal message: You can tweet about everything. Even if it is about buying fruit. OMG Strawberries. #fiveaday

Soundtrack: Freelance Whales - Generator First Floor

Slush rating: 7/10

Microsoft

In brief: Everyone is a PC. Even famous people.

Subliminal message: PCs are cool. Really.

Soundtrack: N/A

Slush rating: 2/10

Google

In brief: American student meets French girl. Plans their life together from his laptop.

Subliminal message: Don't talk about life-changing decisions. Just Google them instead.

Soundtrack: N/A

Slush rating: 9/10

iPad

In brief: iPad is magical.

Subliminal message: iPad.

Soundtrack: Gold Lion - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Slush rating: 3/10

Microsoft

In brief: Annoying student wishes her PC would stop crashing. Tells Microsoft. Global computer manufacturer begrudgingly agrees.

Subliminal message: After seven swings at it, Microsoft computers finally work.

Soundtrack: N/A

Slush rating: 2/10

iPhone 4

In brief: Various lives are improved via the magic medium of Apple Facetime.

Subliminal message: iPhone is magical.

Soundtrack: When You're Smiling - Louise Armstrong

Slush rating: 9/10

Twitter hashtags explained

Twitter hashtags, for the uninitiated, are those wee blue links at the end of tweets which start with a hash symbol (#). They look like this:



You can see some examples of hashtags out in the wild courtesy of Chris, Simon and Linn.

Ok. I know what a hashtag is. What does it do?

If you click on a hashtag you'll be taken to a page which shows every single tweet – from every profile (whether or not you're following them) – which contains the same hashtag. The below example shows the usage of the hashtag #manchester:



What do hashtags do?

Hashtags are a simple way for Twitter users to monitor what people are saying about particular events or things. It enables you to quickly find out news, opinions and views on one subject from across Twitter. It's like a library cataloguing system, putting all the related tweets in one place.

What sort of events do people use hashtags for?

Anything. The UK general election had the hashtag #GE2010, while the recent sighting of the International Space Station had the hashtag #ISS. Twitter hashtags don't have to be reserved for global or national events though and the feature can be used to promote things like regional news and small gatherings. The monthly Manchester SEO meetup uses the hashtag #mancseo, while the Manchester Social Media Cafe uses #smc_mcr.

Say I went to a Manchester SEO event. How would I know what hashtag to use?

Tricky one that. You can usually find the hashtag for global or nationwide events by taking a look at the trending topics on the right-hand side of Twitter (once you're logged in). For local hashtags, your best bet is to use a website like Trends Map to see popular hashtags in your region. Otherwise, just keep an eye on your Twitter feed; if the event is popular, someone will probably slip the hashtag into a tweet.

But who decides what hashtag becomes popular?

The majority. A global issue may have dozens of different hashtags, although one will probably emerge victorious as more people comment on the occurrence. For example:

Say, West Bromwich Albion win the Premier League. There will probably be a few hashtags for this:

#WestBromwichAlbion
#WestBrom
#WBA

Usually, one of these terms (say, #WBA) will be used more frequently than the others. Thus, more people will accept this hashtag as the correct one to use in the situation. The others will shrink into painful obscurity and end up on Celebrity Come Dine With Me.

Local meetups (particularly those in Manchester) will usually already have a set hashtag listed on the website.

But how do I keep track of a hashtag?

There are a number of ways. If you're a web user, you can monitor any uses of a hashtag by searching for it in the box on the right-hand side of your Twitter page. You can also save searches for easy access in the future.



If you're using a programme like Tweetdeck, you can set up a column for a hashtag by pressing the 'add a column' button on the top left and typing your search into the box.



If you're on a shiny iPhone, simply go to the search function of your preferred Twitter app and type in your hashtag. Again, these can also be saved for quick access later on.



These sound great. I want to make a hashtag. Tell me now.

Hashtags have to be simple and short. There are two real reasons for this:

• People are lazy and don't want to type out massive amounts of text
  
• Smaller hashtags let people say more on a tweet. (Twitter messaging allows 140 characters)
  

So, keep your hashtags simple and relevant.

But why has this person done a hashtag about doing the washing up? That's not going to be a communal activity?

Hashtags can also be deployed for comic effect and many users use the feature to describe their personal feelings towards a situation or action. It's a bit of personal narration designed to raise a smile from their followers.

For instance:

#ambored
#shouldreallygotobed
#Istilldontunderstandhashtags

Right. Anything else I should know?

Not really. If you have any questions, drop me a line on Twitter and I'll be glad to help.

Working from home - how your personal tweets have professional implications

Last year, a study by an American firm found that 40 per cent of updates on Twitter were 'pointless babble'; tweets about visiting the dentist or what someone had for breakfast - those updates with no 'substantial' worth (Although good dental hygiene and a healthy balanced diet are both very important).

As you'd expect, some proportion of this 40 per cent feature some sort of personal opinion: judgements, sentiments, thoughts.

Indeed, companies spend millions each year in order protect their brand reputation from these sorts of opinions. Tweet about a bad dining experience and you'll likely get a grovelling message from the establishment in question. Pass judgement on a new fashion line and the store account will usually get back to you. You get the picture.

We all have opinions and we all like to share them. Particularly if they're opinions about your job.

Had a bad day at work? Co-worker smells funny? Hungover?

Share it on Twitter. These people did:

"Dude, I'm not going to work with a hangover."
"I'm home. Went to work. Did no work. Got paid."
"Stupid bored at work.. only an hr & 30 min left though."

Suppose for a moment that these people had previously identified themselves as employees of a particular company (via a tweet or personal biography).

You can see the complication...

Obviously, companies don't want customers finding out that the staff is uninspired, unmotivated or still drunk from the evening before. It reflects badly on their brand, their customer service and the ability of the HR department to hire well-rounded individuals.

And even if the staff aren't slagging their company off after-hours, would firms still need to be concerned about their social media activity? If an employee has 'outed themselves' as a staff member, would their (ill-informed) opinions, (negative) sentiments or (lewd) comments be connected to the brand?

And crucially, would someone be less inclined to hire an agency based on their staff's personal opinions?

Apparently, yes.

Take this from the Yahoo! guide to the personal use of social media (blog guidelines in this instance):

"All Yahoo! employees can be viewed (correctly or incorrectly) as representative of the company, which can add significance to your public reflections on the organization (whether you intend to or not). Yahoos who identify themselves as Yahoo! employees in their blogs and comment on the company at any time, should notify their manager of the existence of their blog just to avoid any surprises."

The BBC take a similar stance in their social media policy:

"When someone clearly identifies their association with the BBC and/or discusses their work, they are expected to behave appropriately when on the Internet, and in ways that are consistent with the BBC’s editorial values and policies."

In a nutshell, if you're 'outed', you've got a responsibility to the company to act responsibly.

Amber Naslund, the director of community for Radian6, wrote an interesting piece for Brass Tack Thinking which highlighted the problem for 'outed' employees on social media. In her blog post, she wrote:

"You’re now a representative of that brand, publicly. The lines start to blur between what’s personal and what’s professional, and all the disclaimers in the world won’t always mean that you can or should post whatever’son your mind. The personal and professional profiles you keep might be and feel physically separate, but Google doesn’t know the difference, and sometimes, neither do your customers."

If you're prone to swearing, this is not an insignificant problem.

Amy Dutton runs the social campaigns for Thames Water and, as an active social media user herself, she says she is aware of the crossover between her professional and personal Twitter account.

"I am very careful not to comment negatively on issues/news that are associated with the water industry. I state in my bio that my tweets are my views and not Thames Water's...We don't have a formal social media policy but we all know not to be too negative or outraged about things on personal accounts."

"Most of my followers know who I work for...some of my followers I actually gained through my association with work and will now often tweet good things on our behalf."

This benefit is reflected by Dominic Conlon from Manchester advertising agency Head First.

"We do that [personal promotion] for some of our clients - even pushing campaigns that we didn't do because we like/believe in the product," says Dom.

"We believe in courtesy and respect. Each of us who tweet [as employees] are just nice :)," he adds.

Still, what happens if you or your colleagues are too naïve (or simply don't want) to stick to the same noble philosophy?

There have been a number of high-profile cases of employees losing their jobs because of their personal Twitter content; objections, criticisms and opinions have been the downfall of many. In most documented cases, the aggrieved employer releases the same statement. Here are two recent examples:

"We simply cannot risk any possible link between our mission and the sort of photos and material that you openly share with the online public. While I know you are a good worker and an intelligent person, I hope you try to understand that our employees are held to a different standard."

"The views she has expressed recently on Twitter are not in keeping with the standards we set."

It would appear that personal comments from staff require a brand-management solution...

The issue becomes even more complicated if your personal account also acts as your professional one. If you're the clear representative (and I'm thinking of freelancers or managing directors, here) for your own company, how do you balance your output to satisfy friends and social-savvy clients? How much self-censorship should be employed to keep both audiences interested?

Larner Caleb, freelance copywriter and regular contributor to The Drum, takes a strong view on the subject.

"If I had to be my own compliance officer in terms of making sure I kept every single tweet 'client safe' well, I for one wouldn't follow me," he says.

"If you can't be yourself on Twitter, then you don't really have a real presence on Twitter. I can't say I've really lost any clients through any of my tweets (I've certainly lost followers, but that definitely wouldn't stop me being myself) but the value I've had out of being myself on Twitter has been enormous."

I'd be interested to hear more thoughts on this. Drop me a comment or get in touch on Twitter.

Until then, you can read a whole batch of internal a social media guidelines from a number of different companies here.

Due South - South Manchester Tweetup

Last Wednesday, Nicola Cooper Abbs and myself put on the first South Manchester Tweetup; an event for the suburban Twitterers of Manchester to get together, share a beer and have a chat.

The evening itself went great. We had hoped that a meetup in the deep south would attract Twitter users who don't usually make it to the regular digital soirées of the city centre, so it was ace to see so many new faces (as well as some old friends). We had quite a nice mix of individuals and businesses and, by all accounts, fun was had by all.

In all, I guessed that around 50 people turned up, so we'll be looking to do another one next month. But there will be more on that in the future.

Thanks to Helen at Didsbury Life for rallying so many West Didsbury business to the cause, as well as Airy Fairy Cupcakes for bringing some treats in tow. Also, cheers to everyone that turned up.

If you've got any questions about the South Manchester Tweetup, drop me or Nicola a line and keep an eye on the #southmcrtweetup hashtag for more news about next month's event.

In the meantime, here's a few photos from the night. Thanks to Helen and Nicola for these.

South Manchester Tweetup

The inaugural South Manchester Tweetup takes place tomorrow. It starts from 7:30pm at the Slug and Lettuce in Didsbury Village - they've kindly cordoned off the right-hand side of the bar so, if you're coming, we should be very easy to find.

View Larger Map

If you've never heard of South Manchester Tweetup before, the premise is pretty simple. Dozens of networking and digital events take place in Manchester every month. However, they're all in the centre of Manchester and it's possibly not the most convenient location for those who live in the suburbs.

South Manchester Tweetup is a way for Twitter users in the south of the city to meet, have a drink and enjoy a natter. And that's about it. We've had nearly 60 people sign up for tickets, so it should be a good night.

If you want to pop along, you can register for a free ticket here (you don't need to bring it along with you, it's just to give us an idea of numbers).

Thanks to Nicola for helping set this up and cheers to those who have promoted it via Twitter (Especially Helen @ Didbsury Life, who appears to have persuaded half of West Didsbury to come along).