Brief ramble on oversharing…

I’ve been thinking a lot about oversharing lately – you know, when someone only needs a certain amount of information but you continue to explain yourself anyway. That’s an overshare.

Particularly, it’s been on my mind whether social media causes us to become ‘oversharers’ in other areas of our lives, too. We become so habituated to sharing the whole story – even if it’s in fits and spurts – that we continue to overshare when we step away from the keyboard.

Oversharing is obviously a rampant problem on sites like Facebook. I’ve done it, you’ve probably done it, and we all hear stories of the person who did it much too big ‘that one time’.

Perhaps a ’stop the oversharing’ PSA is in order…

Media relations put out to pasture?

Is it time, yet? Can we viably say that as traditional print publications start going the way of the dodo that media relations as the core competency of a public relations practitioner is on its way out, too?

One thing that still makes me upset and frustrated with former colleagues and clients is the inability to move beyond measuring the ‘value’ of a media hit. It’s tempting, I know, because it IS something you can clip and paste – you can make a book and see if it’s thicker than the year before. If it is, good work, you’ve still got a job! Less? Please explain.

Just as Brian Solis has been arguing now for years, it began as PUBLIC relations and to such shall it return. Day by day the PUBLIC are becoming the beacons of information, the central hub of sharing and knowledge. It’s true, we’ll always have to work hard to find the right members of the public, but we can’t rest on the bylines of newspapers and magazines anymore. We have to talk to people, eat our own dogfood, get engaged with the product and it’s consumers!

I’m not in social media because I love the bright shiny new toy. I’m entering social media because I think it’s eventually going to be the ONLY place for someone like me – someone who loves to communicate and build bridges between people in companies and people in streets.

What’s up

Just a quick post to highlight the new semester I’m in. It’s going to be a bit of a bear, but interesting.

Currently, we’re in planning stages for the development of my team’s social community. The name has been nailed down, it will be called ArtStarters.org

The first steps were outlining our project scope (who will use it? what problem are we helping them solve? what tools will we give them?). Next is to take our list of tools and give them greater depth, outlining in detail what they have to do (input first name, if no first name upon ’submit’, refresh page with error note) that kind of thing.

Next steps will be to begin shopping for developers. Additionally, we’re taking an internet law class so we understand how to write terms & conditions, what’s legal to ask users to undertake, what we open ourselves up to legally by hosting the sites, etc.

My third class for the semester is my one and only elective and is outside the Annenberg Communications school. I’m in a class in the business school looking at the business of the networked digital industry; how is the internet and the demand for ‘always on’ going to affect companies like Nike or General Mills? What do the hardware companies need to do to keep up? Just how far behind IS the U.S. in terms of internet speed and connectivity (umm, way far; we’re about to go 4G which I vaguely recall is like 10MB and South Korea is consistently at 40MB, um, yeah, bad news bears). It should give me a wider global perspective on how networks are changing business cases.

Finally, I’m going to be writing a little eBook, so keep your eyes open for more info on that one!

Widgets?

I’ve been wondering lately – with so many things moving from the web to mobile, are mobile applications completely replacing the widget? It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a well-executed, popular, buzzed about widget. It seems lately, all the ‘cool little things’ are mobile or platform-supported (Twitter, Facebook mostly).

Just a shorty, but it got me thinking.

Persistence of Vision

This summer, I’m enrolled in one classroom course for my Master’s Program. The course is a survey type course (broad-spectrum, not a questionnaire) covering research methods. We’ve been encouraged to select a topic area for the majority of our individual assignments, and I continue to doggedly pursue corporate reputation.

Why do I think corporate reputation is so important to my studies? Because of the long memory of the web – a years old problem can still influence consumer opinion because of the depth of information available and the fact that past mistakes are no longer gone nor forgotten. The internet has changed all that.

I believe social media has the potential to most firmly impact a company’s reputation management, from the ability to monitor consumer sentiment to the opportunity to present candid information and response. Used correctly, social media can help a company with internal awareness of their reputation, but it can even give the people within the company an opportunity to build a stronger reputation.

“Where you at?”

Do you remember those commercials from Boost mobile where they made rappers and their friends into bubble-people to represent the dots that show where your friends are on a Boost phone?
It strikes me that I haven’t seen any ads like that in a while; not just the creepy bubble-people, but ads touting the ability to ‘find your friends’. With how frequently people post their location on tools like Twitter or Facebook, I still don’t see much adoption for GPS location pin pointing your location.
I think it may have something to do with the fact that people want to choose when to tell others where they’re at – and when that’s the case, there isn’t ENOUGH sharing to make those GPS location tools worthwhile. I’m not rushing to check where the three or four people I know using Google Latitude are at. There’s just not enough critical mass. Tools like Dodgeball, Google Latitude, Brightkite, Loopt and many others have been available for some time now. Maybe we’ve found a limit to what people will share? Or maybe this is just an idea who’s time hasn’t yet come.

Moving with Social Media?

I spent the last two weeks moving out of San Pedro and closer to ‘the big city’. All of the work I did in moving made me wonder 1) how I could have done it without Craiglist, Google and friends and 2) how it might have been easier if I’d connected with other people moving the same weekend.

Granted, Craigslist is fantastic for letting people who are also moving find you and the things you may have that they may want, but what about van sharing or things they haven’t thought about wanting, yet, but will want soon?

I got rid of several items on the good ol’ Craigslist that couldn’t come with me (like a loveseat which was pure torture to divest myself of; I seriously couldn’t sleep because I didn’t know what I’d do with it!)

I also had a fun situation with the van that I’d planned to rent from Ryder truck but which I couldn’t have because someone else hadn’t yet returned it! I envision a social network for movers (or maybe just a Twitter group?) where people moving the same weekend could split the rental of a moving truck. There were at least 2 other apartments in my complex moving out; why shouldn’t I have known they were moving ahead of time and we could have shared resources?

There are so many untapped areas we can take the power of organization through social media – so APOC, let’s get to work!

(BTW, no pic this time; for some reason loading a pic is crashing Firefox tonight…)

Hug it out?

Just a little hug.

I’ve recently begun following (on Twitter and via her blog, not all stalker-y ) a professional career counselor named Penelope Trunk.  Penelope is the author of a book called The Brazen Careerist and maintains a really interesting blog that looks at many different aspects of the work life.  I loved a post she wrote on giving more hugs at work.

I’m a big fan of the platonic hug – usually explained as I reach out to someone by saying “I’m a hugger”.    I once had a youth group leader who always put both hands in when he shook hands, cradling your hand in both of his.  It was his way of giving a little extra warmth and friendliness to the gesture.  A hug is my way of doing something similar.

I agree with so much of what Penelope expounds in her article; sharing a simple, quick hug is a great way to make a relationship a little bit closer.

Falling Behind…

Ugh! Sorry, universe, for falling behind on posting here. I’ve been surprisingly busy for a person with a week off from work. What with interviews and checking out apartments and helping friends figure out options for job searching.

In the meantime, did you know that Google Reader gives you a personalized page with which to share items? It’s a way that people who don’t subscribe to their own Google Reader (and thereby get your shared items directly in their page) can check out what you find interesting.

Here’s mine, give it a look-see! 

Personality Test

Huge Thanks to Redzilla (blogging on Vox) for the Image!

Today was the day; I’d been wondering if it would come but wasn’t certain.  With the economy the way it is and all things being equal, I figured at some point I would be laid-off.  Today was that day.

It’s a good thing that I’ve been preparing for this for a while.  My eyes were open to the possibilities, I’ve been seeking out opportunities and updating my resume and portfolio (never let these things get out of date is a better bet, though!).  For the fun of it, I wanted to see if what I think I’d like to do (social media strategy being my bag up ’til now) is what I should be doing according to some personality tests.

Apparently I’m a mastermind (INTJ) and here’s what Keirsey’s Career Personality description has to say about me: The Mastermind (INTJ) is very focused as well, but more on an internal vision. They are good at solving problems and like to work on tough intellectual puzzles. They are often led into technical positions such as scientific researcher, design engineer, environmental planner. The developing field of genetics benefits from their intensity as does the field of medicine. In education they are most often found at the college and university level. In the professions, they may be a lawyer, a business analyst, or strategic planner (go figure!). Some have a strong artistic/creative bent and may become an artist, inventor, or designer. Whatever they do, they do it with intensity.

If you’re an INTJ like me (don’t know?  do a Google search for a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test), here’s another resource to be all narcissistic and check yourself out.

We can even tie ourselves more specifically to social media by noting that there are groups (want to meet some lovely folks in Austin?) out there for INTJ personality-types to gather and share!  You can even be LinkedIn with other INTJers.

A more focused entry on social media will come this Sunday.  Until then, enjoy learning about your personality!