When pressure builds, what do you tweet?
Running through my various lists of San Diego Sports Tweeps today, I came across this tweet from Bill Johnston, the PR Director for the San Diego Chargers.
Saying there's pressure on team to have great draft seems ridiculous considering we won't know results until year(s) down the road.
— Bill Johnston (@ChargersPRguy) April 25, 2012
I was a little surprised to see the PR Director tweet something so negative. Ridiculous? How is pressure for a great draft ridiculous? Or is it the fans who are ridiculous for putting the pressure on the team? I felt compelled to point this out to him. You can see here my response and his “save.”
@ChargersPRguy Ridiculous or just fanatical enthusiasm for a great @Chargers team/season in 2012? Fans can hope for a great draft. No?
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) April 25, 2012
@shannabright Agree. Love it when people care. Just wanna WIN.
— Bill Johnston (@ChargersPRguy) April 25, 2012
This is a really great example of someone not taking that one extra moment to re-read a tweet before hitting the send button. With 6281+ followers, I suspect there are a few Chargers fans in the mix. Would Bill’s tweet have made a more positive impact had he posed a question?
“Who are you hoping the Chargers pick up in the NFL draft?”
Or could he have shed some light on the secret wishes of the players?
“The buzz in the locker room is that so-and-so is high on the wish list.”
To keep the communications in the positive zone, I responded with:
@ChargersPRguy We wanna WIN too! Do we know who fans are hoping for the most? What about the players? Very excited for the draft!
— Shanna Bright (@shannabright) April 25, 2012
Main point being, there was a good chance to engage fans and let them have a say, take a moment to interact. The comment/opinion from the PR Director only sets a stage for negative replies, as some might interpret him calling the fans ridiculous.
I’m all for being human and authentic, and certainly feel that even frustrations can be creatively vented online with a dash of humor and an open invite to comment. When you are a public figure, or sit in a position like the PR Director for a professional sports team, you really must remember that every time you post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or elsewhere, you really have to give second thought to how your post will resonate with your audience. For someone in Bill’s position, he should be able to turn what seems like a personal frustration into a positive interaction with Chargers fans. Furthermore, and no less significant, when the PR Director for a sports team sends tweets out a bit haphazardly, what kind of example does that set for the players and FO staff?
How do you think Bill should have tweeted his pressure-filled comment? What examples have you seen where a negative sentiment or frustrating situation is turned into a positive moment where fans feel included? Thanks for sharing your links in the comments!
Make that list!
Just as I was preparing this blog post about list functions available on social networks, Facebook announced that it is improving Friend Lists. Great timing! I was actually a bit surprised to read that, according to Mashable, less than 5% of users take advantage of Facebook Lists. I’m a huge advocate of organizing your contacts, and hope that these upgrades will encourage Facebook fanatics to better manage their friends.
Here’s a few methods for creating effective lists so you may better target your messages.
Who are your friends on Facebook? How do you know them? Are they all your high school buds, or do you have some colleagues mixed in there? Any random people that you accepted and don’t have the heart to unfriend?
The promised improvements aim to make a sweeping division between “Close Friends” and “Acquaintances,” which you will have to update manually. This will affect what information appears in your News Feed, with your “Close Friends” more prominently appearing. There is also the reference to “Smart Lists” which will automatically create lists for you according to work, school, family or city. It’s a good start in helping you manage these connections.
Lists are super effective in Facebook, especially because you can maximize your privacy settings and make sure that the information you post is seen only by the people you want to see it.
In my Facebook account, I have people separated by how I know them. So my high school friends are separate from my UCSB pals, people I’ve met on my world travels all fall under their own group as do former colleagues, friends in LA and now San Diego. I even have a “random” list, for people who I felt obligated to add, but who I really don’t want to see all my information and posts.
Taking the time to manage your privacy settings makes it easier to manage who sees your posts. If you have your lists in order, it’s easy to customize your settings, versus adding people one by one for restricted items. Once the improvements are in place, you will be able to easily select who will view your post before you post your status.
The new list features are set to roll out this week. Whether it’s a play to compete with Google+ (which inherently groups together your contacts in Circles) or just a great new set of services, it’s a tool you should take advantage of for more efficient posting.
While I cannot select certain lists to tweet to (wouldn’t that be awesome), I am still diligent about creating lists in Twitter. In my account, these are more likely divided by category or topic. For example: Global News, Marketing, Sports, Travel, etc. What I love about the list function in Twitter is that I can add any feed to a list, but I don’t have to follow them. So most of the Twitter handles on my Global News list… I’m not actually following, I just make a point to check the list feed once or twice a day to see if there is any news worth sharing, or if anything catches my interest. It’s the same with celebrities. I know I won’t get a follow-back, so I just add them to my celebrity list for quick access to the Tweeps I like and care to share news about. Example:
It’s also a good idea to check lists of those you do enjoy following. You can subscribe to their lists if you don’t want to follow every person on it or work to put together entire list of your own. I’ve attached a screenshot of @DiscoverSD (a great resources to find out anything and everything about San Diego!). You can see the drop down menu of lists Michelle has created. For example, “San Diego Events.”
When I click on this list, I can either view the recent tweets of folks on this list, or see all of the accounts followed. You can see the “Follow this List” button, which you can click and add to your own lists in your account.
I also find that I peruse my lists often looking for new people to follow. I tend to find more relative Tweeps and people who have similar interests or offer great information. This manner is often more on point than the people Twitter suggests.
One more function in the Twitter lists – You can make your list public or keep it private. If you’ve collected leads or hot contacts all in one list, that might be something you don’t want to share with everyone else. But perhaps your favorite charities, news sources or celebrities…that’s something fun to share and can possibly increase your influence online.
HootSuite
The opportunity to create lists on Hootsuite, if this is your chosen dashboard, also exists. You can either create lists from scratch or import from Twitter. Importing from Facebook is not available at this time. Importing your Twitter lists could not be easier. Here’s a link direct from Hootsuite: http://help.hootsuite.com/entries/115076-how-to-import-twitter-lists-to-hootsuite. I love that I can see these feeds right in my dashboard and do not have to leave the application to check out the updates. Super convenient when traveling. I’m sure TweetDeck and other management tools have similar functions.
I hope you use this this quick overview to help kick start the organization of your contacts. Lists can prove to be a powerful tool in managing your social networks. It may take a little effort up front, but once you have it sorted out, it’s easy to maintain and should prove to be helpful as the various platforms release new versions and more methods to engage with your audience.
Awesome all the times
02/04/2012 – UPDATE: Thought I would see if Cody Decker had changed his Twitter profile recently. Answer is yes. Slightly. No improvements, though!
Anti-Hero baseball player in the San Diego Padres Organization. Rarely wrong, often a jerk, always adorable… Burning bridges since 1987…….
Note to Cody: Anti-heroes and jerks are never adorable. Ever.
…….
10/30/2011 – UPDATE: I just saw a Cody Decker tweet and was pleased to see his bio had been changed. That turned to confusion though. Here’s the latest version:
Baseball player in the San Diego Padres Organization. Rarely wrong, often a jerk, always adorable… Burning bridges since 1987…….
Not quite the direction you should be going, dear Cody. Now you identify yourself as a Padre and tell your fans that you are a jerk. Good plan! I’m sure the Padres would be pleased. Oh how I would love to consult this guy on his social media strategy.
…….
Recently, a favorite Tweep recommended to all that we follow @Decker6. The Twitter handle belongs to Cody Decker, a Minor League Baseball player for the parent team, San Diego Padres. I looked at the account and read the profile:
I play baseball sometimes….. I’m awesome all the times…… Burning bridges since 1987
My initial reaction was to correct this young man’s grammar and so I tweeted, “I’m awesome all the TIMES?” He needs twitter coaching! RT @friarhood Make sure u r following #Padres hot prospect Cody Decker – @Decker6
I noticed though, as I looked more through his profile and scanned his tweets, that this up and coming athlete really could use social coaching. It is essential that any athlete, personality or celebrity have a polished approach to their social media strategies. Once you gain that notoriety, and especially when it’s through an organization like the Padres or the UCLA Bruins before that, there is a code of ethics and greater responsibility to be appropriate. With a manner like Cody Decker here, he’s more likely to turn potential fans away then gain any decent number of followers with his “I’m so cool and I don’t care what you think” approach (Time of post he’s at a whopping 243 followers). Who wants to follow someone who thinks they are soooo awesome and who admits to burning bridges his whole life? It sets the stage for lack of conversation, lack of engagement, a lack of the foundation that makes social media successful. One could never expect to have a meaningful exchange with @Decker6 because it’s all about him.
Not only is this approach to the Twitterverse bad for him, but it reflects poorly on the Padres that they would employ such a brazen young player who sports a seriously bad attitude. That’s what makes @Decker6 and other sports figures ripe for social coaching. I’d love to provide the Padres a social media seminar to help them understand how best to harness the power of social media for good causes, to raise awareness for their sport, their community and favorite charities. I’d love to teach them how to engage their fans, solidify their following and gain new loyal fans. Sure, personal posts can showcase an individual’s personality, but with a positive spin. I’m amazed that the Padres wouldn’t put a short leash on this guy and tell him to change his Twitter game.
Beaming Bohemian is happy to sit down with you one-on-one and provide social coaching to help you better understand how to maximize your social media accounts. There is more out there than just Twitter and Facebook, plenty of other platforms which are just as handy, mobile-friendly and gaining in popularity. Contact me to set up your social coaching session. In the meantime, I’m knocking on the Padres door to see if we can’t arrange a coaching session of a different kind!
Facebook Deals
Today Facebook announced that San Diego was one of just five cities chosen to help launch the new DEALS ON FACEBOOK program.
Facebook says, “A few months ago we launched Check-In Deals, to help you get special offers when you check in at local businesses from your mobile. Today we’re going a step further and testing a new feature to help you find fun experiences to share with your favorite people: Deals on Facebook.
Initially, Deals will be available to people in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco and we hope to expand this test to other cities in the future.”
To acces deals, scroll down the left menu bar on your profile page. Clicking “Deals” will show you a page with all that’s on offer, including messages letting you know which friends have liked that deal.
Facebook is counting on the popularity of the LIKE button and word-of-mouth advertising to promote what deals available and for users to see what their friends are liking. I’ve already subscribed because I am interested to see what offers pop up and admire Facebook’s strategy. It’s convenient, too because I don’t have to go to another website like GroupOn or LivingSocial to see what offers are available in my community.
What I don’t like about the deals program on the Facebook platform is that it gives Facebook just that much more information about me. For small businesses hoping to gain better exposure and not go broke on traditional advertising methods, participating in the Facebook Deals should prove a huge advantage.
Have you subscribed yet? Will you use the deals offered or are you leery of FB knowing too much about you? Will you promote your small business through Facebook?
Get Bright Life E-News
Get free education and updates from Bright Life Media. E-news contains exclusive content for subscribers only. Say YES to a Bright Life now!
