Your Tweets Suck

A Minute Of Your Time

Are the celebrities that you  follow on Twitter living up to your expectations?  Do you sometimes contemplate unfollowing them? I’m relatively new to Twitter, but I am already at that point. My primary interest in  joining Twitter was so I could connect with celebrities.  I thought  I would be exposed to  their human side and get to see a little more of who they really are away from the cameras; however, that has not always been the case. I have compiled a list of some of the celebrities I follow and included a brief explanation of why I think their tweets are good or why they suck.

Lady Gaga

I am a huge fan of Lady Gaga (ladygaga). I love her music and her bold style. What I like  about her tweets is most of them are directed toward her fans.  She even has a name for us- little monsters. Some of her tweets are about upcoming videos and singles, but most of them consist of gratitude toward the “little monsters.” The one thing I wish she would do more is respond to fans.

P Diddy

I have been a fan of P Diddy (iamdiddy) since the early 1990′s. His music is good, his performances are excellent and his shows are entertaining. His tweets on the other hand are horrible. Each of his tweets is some sort of commercial or advertisement. He is constantly telling his followers to buy, watch or listen to something of his. I think he should tweet more about other things than himself and engage with his followers a little more.

Jeremy Piven

Jeremy Piven (jeremypiven) is my favorite character on “Entourage.” He is entertaining on-screen as well as on Twitter. Though he doesn’t tweet very often, he usually makes his followers laugh when he does by tweeting something funny. I get a kick out of his tweets, but I wish he would tweet a little more often and interact with some of his followers occasionally.

Barack Obama

I am pleased to have Barack Obama (BarackObama) as my president, but I am not so sure if I am pleased with being a follower of his on Twitter. Most of his tweets consist of links to articles that defend him and his position on various topics.  I wish some of his tweets were about other things besides himself and just as I stated about the previous celebrities, I wish he would interact with his followers a little more.

Egypt

Egypt( EgyptSaidSo) is not as big of a celebrity as the people I mentioned above, but she is popular in her niche market. I think she is the best celebrity tweeter I am following. She shares information, she talks about other topics instead of just herself, and most importantly, she interacts with her followers. I think a lot of celebrity tweeters can learn a thing or two from Egypt.

As you can probably tell by now, I have a thing about celebrities not interacting with their followers. In the book “Here Comes Everbody,” Shirky states celebrities cannot have two-way interactivity because too many people are trying to communicate with them. While I agree with him that’s it difficult for celebrities to interact with even a quarter of their fans,  I feel they can speak to at least one or two of them. What do you think?  Which celebrities do you think suck on Twitter?

Social Network Snoopers

Long before companies were on social network sites, regular  people were.  Facebook was started by a college student and was  limited to only university students when it first began.  The  reason why companies joined social networks in the first place was to find new people to buy its products and services.  I don’t see anything wrong with companies being on social networks.  In fact, sites like LinkedIn often help connect prospective employees with employers. However,  I think it’s unethical and a privacy issue for employers to  lurk on social networks in search of information about current and prospective employees.

There are  a few questions prospective employers are prohibited by law from asking interviewees. These federal and state laws were put in place to prevent discrimination; yet, all a prospective employer has to do is go on your Facebook page and there is a good chance he/she will be able to see all of your information. You’re probably saying to yourself that you can change your Facebook settings so that your information is not readily available, but does that somehow justify what employers are doing? Also, can you really protect all of your information?

Social Network Detective

You may have your photos set so that only your friends can see them, but what if all of your friends don’t have their settings set the same way? An inappropriate photo of you can easily be seen on a friend’s page if they are tagged in it. While an employer should not base his/her decision on whether to hire you or not because of a photo, they often do.

What does a photo of someone who was out with his or her friends one night tell you about their work ethic and knowledge? Absolutely nothing. Should your boss have the right to fire you just because you tweeted he is getting on your nerves today? Of course not. Such actions curb freedom of speech, but yet it is happening more and more. This fear of employers is hurting the realm of social media.

What some people don’t get is social media is supposed to be the medium of authenticity. They criticize us for being too open on social networks, but that is the very reason why so many people have joined and continue to join these networks. It’s the realness of it that attracts people. Constantly having to watch what you post prevents people from being authentic. Rather than sharing what you want to share, you will end up sharing what you think is appropriate to share.

Why Google Buzz Pissed Me Off

The Buzz

I was 100 percent team Google. I use Google as my search engine when looking for just about every topic;  I use Google Images when looking for photos; I use Gmail for my emails and I use Google Maps when looking for locations. I would utilize anything with the Google name, until now that is.

I heard about Google Buzz here and there, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I even saw the icon in my Gmail’s sidebar. I didn’t think much about it since I didn’t request to join the site, like you have to do with other social media sites. Last  weekend, I heard there was some sort of controversy about  the new site, so I decided to check it out the following Monday.

That  Monday when I clicked on the icon, I was surprised to find out that not only was I a member, but I also had people who were “following” me. This freaked me out and upset me. It freaked me out because Google Buzz (on its own) invaded my privacy by connecting  people to me whom I have emailed in the past.  It assumed that because I had these people listed as my contacts, we were friends, which in some cases is not true.

Also, my followers  now had access to  my other email contacts. Google Buzz has since made changes to protect users’ privacy, but the damage has already been done. In addition to the privacy issue, I think that it is unethical of Google to automatically join people to its social media site simply because they use its email service.

When I joined Facebook and Twitter, I went on these sites and signed up on my own accord . These sites did not automatically create an account for me.  Also, I can hide my friends on Facebook if I do not want anyone to see them. While I can’t hide my followers on Twitter, I can hide my tweets from people. I’m not that secretive to the point where I don’t want anyone seeing my posts or friends, but I want to be the one who decides how private or not private I want to be.

Google Buzz obviously did not understand what this whole social media movement is about. If its creators had read books like “Here Comes Everybody” and the “Groundswell,” they would know that we participate on these sites because of self power. We  interact in social media because the participation is on our terms. I may join Google Buzz one day in the future, but I don’t plan on doing it anytime soon.

Say It Ain’t So. Is Beyonce Bigger Than Jay-Z?

I am without a doubt the No.1 Jay-Z fan. I have been following him since I was 15 years old.  So, when I saw what CNN had said about him, I quickly voiced my opinion on Facebook.  “CNN” had  reported  results of a “Showbiz Tonight” question asking if Jay-Z and Beyonce (Jayonce) were bigger than Brangelina. It was not the results that upset me because I figured Brangelina was bigger than Jayonce;  it was what one of callers had said that started this whole debate and eventually inspired this blog post.

The caller stated that Jayonce should really be called BeyonJay because Beyonce is a bigger star than him. I agree that Beyonce is big and very talented, but Jay-Z is the man!  Just last year he sold his 11th number one album, beating Elvis Presley’s record of having the most No. 1 albums as a solo artist.

Besides being one of Hip-Hop’s greatest artists, Jay-Z is part owner of the New Jersey Nets, he has a chain of clubs called 40/40, and he introduced big artists like Rihanna and Ney-Yo to the world.  His most recent album, “Blue Print 3,” sold over one million copies and landed Jigga on the No. 9 spot of Billboard’s 2009 top album selling list.

Knowing all of this information, I wrote a Facebook update voicing my opinion to the Facebook community. To my surprise, no one posted a comment supporting my belief/denial. Instead, I got attacked by the “Put A Ring On It” fans.  They (Anne and Tara) believe the name BeyonJay is suitable and that Beyonce has surpassed Jay-Z. After going back and forth with them for a while, I decided to do my own research to see who was really the biggest star.  Though I hate to admit it, I found out I was wrong and that Beyonce is bigger than Jay-Z ( that was painful to write).

Jay-Z still has more money than Beyonce, but she was the breadwinner in 2009 as well as 2008. According to the Forbes Celebrity 100 of 2009, Jay-Z was ranked  No. 32, while Beyonce was ranked  No. 4.

Bey’s most recent album, “I Am Sasha Fierce,” sold over six million copies worldwide and she lead the 52 GrammyAwards with 10 nominations. Besides being a singer, Beyonce has acted in movies and commercials. While some of her success is due to her music and television/movie appearances, some of it is because of her use of social media.

One thing that Beyonce does that Jigga does not  is talk to fans. Beyonce’s website includes a blog  and a forum where fans can interact. They can also upload their pictures and watch their favorite videos.  Jay-Z’s website does not include a blog nor does it invite fans to communicate.

I’m not saying that this is the only reason she has exceeded Jay-Z, making $87 million in 2009 as opposed to his $34 million. However, social media is very crucial these days and plays a major role when it comes to who is on top. If Jay-Z were to utilize social media, I am sure there would be an increase in his popularity and in his pockets.

Revenge Of The Nobodies

In 2007, DeAndre Cortez Way wanted to become a rap star. As opposed to the traditional way rap artists get signed, Way decided to use social media and put out a You Tube video. The You Tube video became such a success that Way was able to release an album. In May of 2007, DeAndre, better known as Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, released “Crank That,” which went certified platinum.

Tila Nguyen, better know as Tila Tequila, was chosen  to star in a MTV reality show because she was considered the most popular girl on MySpace (due to the number of friends she had). “A Shot At Love With Tila Tequila“  debuted at No. 1 and aired for two seasons.

Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., better known as Perez Hilton, was a New York University graduate who floated between jobs before he started blogging in 2004. His blog became so big that Perez eventually went on to host award shows, make appearances on radio and television.

These three individuals are proof that a change in dictatorship has taken place. No longer are A & R executives in charge of picking out musicians. Editors aren’t  the primary ones who select people to write to us and actors aren’t successful based on Roger Ebert’s reviews.   The nobodies are now calling the shots!

Everyone knows that power is in numbers and social media has given us just that. Millions and millions of people can connect on a forum, a blog or a social network site. It is on these sites that we decide what we like, what we don’t like and what we are going to do about it.

This new found power exists further than entertainment business; it has even extended to corporate business. Some companies have gotten smart and connected with us in the social media realm. They know that they cannot beat us so they decided to join us. They realized that old marketing and messages do not work with us. We want conversations and real dialogue versus sales pitches and hyperbole.

Students who are in school trying to learn how to reach us should abandon some of their old teachings because they are no longer applicable.  We are in a new age and this shift in power is not changing any time soon.  New technologies are helping us to connect with more people faster and easier. We are no longer just consumers. We are somebodies and we expect to be heard!

Twitter 101

We’re not on Facebook anymore (I thought to myself the first time I went on Twitter). It was like no other social media site I had ever visited .  My first instinct was to turn back and run for the hills, but Twitter is unavoidable. Celebrities are on Twitter, news organization are on Twitter and even Santa Claus is on Twitter. There will come a  time when you too will  join, but don’t get nervous. If you follow my advice,  your transition to Twitter will be  a piece of cake.

The first thing you need to do is accept the fact that you are a follower. Forget about the speech your parents gave you about being a leader. It doesn’t matter  if you were class president or a manager at White Castles because there are no leaders on Twitter. You follow people and they follow you. It’s as simple as that. The next thing you must accept is you are no longer a human. While on Twitter, you are a bird and you communicate by tweeting to those of your species. You may tweet as often as you would like, but each tweet is limited to 140 characters, so choose what you want to say wisely.

The next thing you must do is learn the lingo. Twitter uses its own terminology and you can easily mistake it for something else. For example, what comes to your mind when you see the term  “hash tag?” You thought it was some kind of hash brown or breakfast food right? Well it’s not; it’s not even in the potato family. A hash tag is a code/symbol that is used to connect certain tweets to one big topic or subject. For example, if I wanted to add my tweet to a topic on smelly feet, I would include #smellfeet  as the hash tag at the end of my tweet. People who go on twittersearch.com to look for this topic using the hash tag #smellfeet will see a list of all the tweets about this subject.

Another term you should become familiar with is TweetDeck.  No, it’s not some outdoor place where people gather in the summer to booze their problems away. TweetDeck is a Twitter application that allows you to manage your Twitter account a little easier. Instead of clicking around Twitter to find out who replied to you and sort through tweets, it provides all of this information in columns. One column is for general tweets, while another column can be for tweets that mention you directly.

There are  a few more things you will need to learn about Twitter, which  I will discuss in Twitter 102. However, you now have  acquired the basic knowledge needed to join Twitter. Have fun!

The Night I Fell In Love With Facebook

It wasn’t love at first sight. In fact, it was  MySpace who I thought I would spend the rest of my life with.  I was introduced to MySpace by a friend of mine around 2004.  What I liked most about MySpace was it was an online representation of myself. My background displayed my favorite musician, designer, pattern or color.  My favorite song and video immediately played as someone visited my site. I had video clips and slides that I found amusing and interesting.  After visiting my page, it wouldn’t be difficult to know what my likes and dislikes were. In addition to the page set up, I liked the fact that I could comment on a friend’s page and vice versa. Also, I could see pictures of my friends and I could post my own pictures. I was quite content with MySpace and not interested in joining any other social media sites. I remained faithful to MySpace for about four years before I met Facebook.

I had heard about Facebook during my relationship with MySpace, but I never checked it out because I was a one social medium kind of guy. The first time I looked at Facebook was with a friend who wanted to show me photos he had taken while on a trip. My first impression of Facebook was that it was awful. It didn’t look anything like the beautiful MySpace. There was no background color, no music playing, no nothing.  It looked plain, simple and flat out boring. When I asked him why he had a Facebook account as opposed to MySpace, he said it was more of a professional site than MySpace and he primarily used it for networking. I decided to sign up so I could also  meet professionals, but I had no real interest in it.

Initially, I would visit Facebook about once a week, but as time went on, I found myself going on there more and more. I was drawn to the status updates, which MySpace didn’t have when I first signed up for it. These updates often turned into huge online discussions by people commenting to posts. I also began to get more and more friends on Facebook. After a while, a lot of family members who were far and near also joined.  One day I found someone I haven’t seen since elementary school who was friends with a lot of  people I had grown up with, but  lost touch with through the years. Once I found family and long lost friends, I began going on Facebook on a daily basis. One night after neglecting MySpace for months, I decided to end the relationship and I canceled my account.  That was the night I knew I was in love with Facebook.