Lee Aase | Social Media University, Global (SMUG)

RAQ: What platform do you recommend for Twitter chats?

This question comes from Chris Patota (@WestchesterPR), and is shared with permission:

I just came across your blog today, and I think it’s a great resource for people like me who are trying to leverage social media for business. I have a quick question for you…what is your preferred Twitter Chat technology? I would like to use a Twitter chat for one of my clients’ events, so I wanted to see if you had any recommendations.

Answer:

Thanks, Chris. As I describe in this post on “3 Steps to Joining or Leading a Twitter Chat,” I’ve mainly been recommending using the basic Twitter interface, because it requires less training than some other options.

Especially for newbies, that seems to be the most straightforward, so users don’t need to install Tweetdeck or some other application. There is enough to learn without complicating the process with another application.

Tweetchat.com is OK too, and saves the need to enter the hashtag each time…but to me the Twitter interface has gotten good enough (with a saved search, as described in Twitter 116) to make that work well.

I personally like to use Tweetdeck, and just create a search pane for the hashtag. This is especially helpful for chats that recur from week to week, such as #hcsm, or otherwise have some ongoing activity. That enables me to check at a glance whether there is anything new, instead of having to remember to click the #hcsm link on my Twitter interface.

I also would advise you to have new Tweeps sign up for their accounts and do a few tweets in advance, because I’ve noted that sometimes new users’ tweets don’t show up reliably in Twitter search. So you might want to have them do a few tweets using your proposed hashtag.

If anyone has a way to ensure the inclusion of new users’ tweets in Twitter search, please share it in the comments on this post.

RAQ: How do I set a Vanity URL for my Facebook Page?

Note: This post is part of the SMUG Facebook curriculum, and is Facebook 230.

A participant in a recent Webinar had a question about how to create a vanity URL for an organization’s Facebook page, similar to what we have for Mayo Clinic, which has now been shortened to:

http://www.facebook.com/MayoClinic

So I’m demonstrating it with another “fan” Page I’ve set up for myself as a writer, speaker, etc. If you are administering a fan page in Facebook, here’s how you can get a shorter URL, without the long string of numbers that is part of your basic URL.

Go to http://www.facebook.com/username/

If you haven’t set a vanity URL for your personal profile, you will have an opportunity to do it. But if you have already set a personal URL, as I have, and if you are a Page administrator/owner, you will see a message like this (click to enlarge):

If you click on the link that says “Set a username for your Pages” you will see a drop-down menu like this (if you have multiple Pages):

Then you will get a chance to select your username for the page, and check its availability:

If it is available, you will see a message like this that warns you sternly that this is not something to take lightly:

When you hit Confirm, you see a message like this:

And then, in my case, if people go to http://www.facebook.com/SMUG.Chancellor they will see this:

If you’d like to become a “fan” I would of course be honored.

But otherwise, I hope you will find this helpful in setting your own vanity URL, either as an individual for your profile or for your Facebook fan pages.

Did this work for you?

RAQ: Personal and Professional Identities – SMUG

Jackie Fox (@jfoxhdr), who blogs at Dispatch from Second Base, writes to ask:

I haven’t noticed this in SMUG and was hoping you might have some advice on how to mesh our professional and personal activities online. I’m beginning to suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. My professional profile is on LinkedIn and my personal profile is on Facebook (and professional on Twitter but only for monitoring purposes). That seems fairly clear-cut but what if I would like to join LinkedIn groups as a “civilian?” I don’t think the engineering company I work for is well served by seeing women’s healthcare issues on my LinkedIn profile. I guess I could list breast cancer affiliations including my blog as personal interests on my work profile but that seems just a tad weird. Or is it? Any advice from you or how others handle it would be more than welcome. Even sending you this message I had to stop and think for a second about which way to identify myself. I chose personal and I think that made sense. But yikes! If I were writing to Ann Landers I would sign this “Confused.” Thanks.

Jackie was quick to add “jfoxhdr is my Twitter name but just a reminder I have never tweeted. I’m on there primarily to monitor certain news items and follow people for work (ENR and a couple of environmental reporters) and for fun (you and Stephen Colbert.)”

Answer:

Dear “Confused”…er, I mean Jackie. First, I’m honored to be in your “for fun” group in Twitter, along with Stephen Colbert. How cool is that?

Second, don’t apologize for the way you use Twitter. It’s perfectly fine to be in “Listen Only” mode if that works for you. Much better than being a spam machine.

Now to your main question:

I really think it comes down to Integrity, which my handy Mac Dictionary app defines as:

1 the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness : he is known to be a man of integrity.
2 the state of being whole and undivided : upholding territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

I personally don’t think it’s a problem for your business and professional colleagues to know that you’re concerned about breast cancer and active in advocacy related to it.

Doing this advocacy on work time wouldn’t be good. But knowing that you have this interest helps your clients, customers and colleagues know you better. And if all your LinkedIn posts were about non-work passions, that probably would indicate that you’re really not that interested in your engineering work.

If you have clients to whom you are “selling” it’s better for them to get to know you as a person, not just as a disembodied voice at the end of the phone line. That makes it less likely they would drop your company for a $5 an hour discount they might get from a competitor.

If you’re involved in a jihadist group, that would be a different story. Probably best to keep that off your LinkedIn profile, because while it might not bar you from boarding a U.S.-bound plane from Amsterdam, it likely would turn off potential business associates.

But for almost any other kind of personal interest, it just comes down to proportion. Don’t go overboard in advocating for a cause so that’s all your professional colleagues and customers see.

In summary, I would just say: “Don’t be a Sybil.” Be one integrated personality (and online persona).

Be yourself.

How about the rest of you? How would you advise Jackie?

Ruth LaGue, Associate Professor of Graphic Arts – SMUG

In July and August we held a contest, inviting SMUGgles to create a new official seal for SMUG, and then asking the “student body” to select the winner. In addition to the undying gratitude of SMUGgles everywhere (and there are now more than 800 of us representing every continent except Antarctica), I said the winner would be designated an Associate Professor of Graphic Arts. Today, I’m glad to introduce you to that new professor, Ruth LaGue. Here’s her bio:

Ruth LaGue – Creative Consultant/ Art Director

Ruth is an Internet marketing consultant with 20 years of design experience. She excels at translating brands into visually engaging, integrated online experiences.

Ruth formerly worked as a senior art director at AGENCY.com: Boston. During that time, she was the creative lead on CIGNA.com, a multi-million dollar Web site that translated CIGNA’s brand online. She also was one of the creative leads working on projects for Liberty Mutual’s South American operations.

Her interactive career began at THINK New Ideas, where she was a senior designer and then an art director, creating Web sites and CD-ROM projects. Her clients included Fidelity, Evergreen and Progress.com.

Ruth’s graphic design career started at WHDH-TV, Boston ‘s NBC affiliate. As assistant art director, she developed branding and visual solutions for local programming, news and public affairs campaigns.

Her awards include a Gold award from Broadcast Designers Association, a Bronze award from Broadcast Designers Association and a MIMC award.

Ruth received a bachelor’s degree from Rhode Island School of Design, and an MBA from Simmons College School of Management.

Contact Ruth on Twitter at @RuthLague, or see her portfolio.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in the SMUG seal contest, whether it was in submitting candidate seals or helping to select the finalists and eventual winner.

Answer:

If anyone has a way to ensure the inclusion of new users’ tweets in Twitter search, please share it in the comments on this post.

Did this work for you?

Answer:

How about the rest of you? How would you advise Jackie?

35 Social Media Theses (right-click and “Save as” to download.)