A Social Media Snapshot:Babes in Tweetland

Think comic books and women and the images that come to mind (at least if you're a teenage boy) are of scantily-clad, large-busted, tiny-waisted illustrations with long legs--whether they're Cat Woman, Lois Lane, or just some bystander in a street scene. So it's no surprise that Comic-Con, the mega comic book convention oddly enough having it's 40th birthday this year, launched a "Sin to Win" contest that resembles a frat hazing initiation: he who picks up the most babes, and can prove it, using FaceBook and Twitter (hashtag #lust), wins.

Not surprisingly, the outrage among people in general, and women in particular, has been pretty strong (although probably not among convention participants). Even after an apology (the whole thing was in fun, after all, and really not meant to demean anyone), the rumblings are still being heard. Comic books can be confined to bedrooms or backpacks; tweets and FaceBook postings cannot. Can even Superman save Comic-Con from the negative publicity? Can anyone?

Oh, right...

This is about comic books and video games, and targeting a specific audience. As a social media strategy, was the contest offensive? Perhaps. Silly? Quite possibly. Effective? Absolutely. Nothing ignites conversation faster than controversy. It's a sure bet Comic-Con isn't suffering because of it. Read more.

Tweets on the Streets of Le Tour on Bastille Day

Why is Lance Armstrong, a guy who rides a bike, the most social media-savvy athlete in the world? We’ll answer that in a moment, but first …

Yesterday was Bastille Day in France, a national holiday commemorating the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. It was also Stage 10 of the Tour De France, a relatively flat, uneventful ride from the town of Limoges to Issoudon, won in a sprint finish by Mark Cavendish, a Brit. You would have known about this if you’re one of the 1.4 million people who follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter. Let’s take a peek at some of yesterday's tweets from the master pedaler:

Driving to the start. Slight drizzle. Bastille Day. A Brit will win tho.

Shot a video with @ghincapie and Mark Cavendish this morning. Good fun altho Cav was too well behaved.

St10 done. Probably one of the more relaxed days I have experienced in 10+ tours. Got roling at the end tho and we were going! Good legs.

Kept going @ the finish and did a 10 min cool down. I reckon it makes no sense to sprint to the line, stop cold, then sit in the bus.

As it turned out, a Brit (Cavendish) did win the stage, just as Armstrong predicted.

Later in the day, Armstrong introduces us (via a CNN link) to the Chalkbot, a street-writing robot that transcribes water-soluble messages of hope and inspiration to riders, fans and a world-wide television audience that includes legions of cancer survivors. The Chalkbot is a towed, two-wheeled device that converts the tweets and text messages of ordinary fans into bright yellow comments that get painted on the streets of the Tour for all to see. Thus, a fortunate fan from Philly can write a message on a boulevard in France and receive a photo of that message, presumably to share with friends via social media. (Is it any wonder that Nike and Armstrong are working with the company that invented the Chalkbot, bringing a new form of user generated content to a street near you.)

The Chalkbot isn’t the only one writing on the streets of the Tour, however. We learn from Chris Brewer, reporting on the LiveStrong website:

At the beginning and end of each stage Nike has a “street team” of 12 super-motivated young people patrolling the fans along the rail. Each of them has a roller bag chock full of chalk(!) and LIVESTRONG yellow wristbands. They give out the chalk for free, encouraging people to write messages of hope on the roads of the Tour, and sell the wristbands for one Euro with all proceeds staying in France to benefit those affected by cancer.

A little later we get another tweet from Lance about the video he, Hincapie, and Cavendish shot in the morning:

Pre-stage video with @ghincapie, Cav, and myself.

And speaking of videos, on Sunday morning Robin Williams was on the Team Astana bus, doing what Robin Williams does best, being funny. Where did we learn about this? From one of Armstrong’s tweets, of course.

Robin Williams stopped by the bus after the finish. He's doing great and got his health back 100%. We made a vid I'll post later. Too funny.

So, what makes Armstrong the most social media-savvy athlete in the world? He understands that social media is about engaging your audience in conversation. The Armstrong you get to know via his tweets, blogs, vlogs and Livestrong.com is endearing and real, everything you would want in a friend. In fact, the Armstrong you get to know via social media is a much more compelling persona than the Armstrong you see in a Charlie Rose interview, for example. Why? Because mass media doesn't always capture the Lance you want to have a beer with. The mass media Lance is awe-inspiring and iconic yet packaged and controlled. That's not a bad thing--that's just how mass media sells our stars to us. The social media Armstrong, by contrast, is a multi-dimensional Armstrong.

And then there is his strategic side. You don't win the Tour De France seven times without being strategic. Not surprisingly, Armstrong has mastered a social media strategy that taps into the Four Pillars of Social Media:

1. Communication


2. Collaboration


3. Education


4. Entertainment
   

He employs a number of different social media tools to establish all four pillars as the foundation for his brand-enhancing self. Let us not forget that he is one of the world's most effective pitchmen. Check out some of the sponsors and advertisements on his website, and you'll see that his cancer-crusading foundation is making money, over $250 million in the last 12 years. (Armstrong's personal net worth is well over $100 million, according to Forbes.)

Clearly, social media didn't make Lance Armstrong. His talent on a bicycle and his backstory as a cancer survivor have given Armstrong an opportunity to be in the public spotlight. But it is his use of social media that has given all of us an opportunity to ride along with him ... and feel good about it.

A Social Media Snapshot:The Spy Who Shew Too Much

In a story that could be a sub-plot in a social media-themed James Bond flick, the newly designated head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (the MI6), has had detailed information about him, his family, friends, and home posted on the Internet for all to see. Not a good scenario for someone who must live in the shadowy, super-secret world of the spy trade.

How did it happen you ask? Did an Octopussy-like villan intercept his tweets? Was he "friended" by Jaws on FaceBook? No, but his wife, Lady Shelley Sawers, uploaded all of this information to a public-facing Facebook page sans privacy protection. (Even with privacy settings in place it may not have been a good idea.)

Though the information was quickly pulled, the damage was done. Any one of 200 million Facebook users could access the information which contained family vacation photos, photos of friends, many of whom are diplomats, the Sawers' flat in London--you get the idea. The mistep may keep Sir John Sawers from assuming the top spy job, as it raises serious doubts about his ability to perform that job.

Hey, even spies have lives, wives (or husbands), and the very human need to share special moments with friends and family. Social media is the great enabler, a veritable toolbox of applications to keep family and friends tethered and in touch. Except when your life and the lives of those around you could be jeopardized.

We can learn a valuable lesson from the Sawers' revealing experience. Social media has a dark side that can be the arch rival of privacy, and while you may not earn your living in the shadows, there may be moments from your life that should remain there.

Miss Moneypenny would be horrified. Read more...

Social Media in 1776: How a Corset Maker Engaged a Nation

The Declaration of Independence was formally accepted by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. The missive consists of 1,137 words penned on parchment paper, words that changed the course of world history. Thomas Jefferson is widely viewed as the "author" of the document, but it was truly a collaborative effort. (Interestingly, many of his colonial collaborators found Jefferson to be too wordy, and the final document was edited considerably before realizing its final form. Among the things his collaborators removed was a lengthy indictment of the slave trade ... ironic.)

We can only imagine how a wiki may have aided the founding brothers in creating the finished piece that we celebrate today. If a wiki would have been a tool of those times, surely some of Jefferson's collaborators would have been tweeting details of their conversations to their cohorts throughout the colonies, tweets that would have fueled countless blogs no doubt. But alas, there was no web 2.0 in 1776.

There was, however, social media. By turning the calendar back six months to January 9, 1776, we witness the publication of Common Sense, a 55-page pamphlet that argued strongly for colonial independence. Though the first printing was published anonymously, we all know that the author was Thomas Paine, whose rogue spirit has influenced countless journalists over the years and several of today's top bloggers, whether they realize it or not.

Upon publication, Common Sense was very popular and in a little more than a month had gone into a third printing. Everyone was talking about it. Paine, who had apprenticed as a corset maker and worked in that trade on and off during his lifetime, played a huge role in engaging colonial America in conversation. Common Sense was indeed a social medium. Here's a taste of Paine, from the opening pages of Common Sense:

Some writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher.

Paine did not grown up in the colonies. He was born in Thetford, England in 1737. He came to America in 1774, encouraged by Benjamin Franklin. Paine's migration here may have been facilitated by his dismissal from his job as an excise officer. He was fired for writing a pamphlet that called on Parliament to increase the salaries of excise officers. Seems his calling as a "rabble rouser" with a pen was becoming clear to him.

Today we celebrate America's Declaration of Independence, but we might also want to contemplate the concept of independence and an early form of social media that enabled a new nation to engage in one of the most important conversations in history.

Where else but in America could a immigrant corset maker with an opinion have had such an impact on a nation? Read more...

Snapshot Post--Mini-Musings on The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Oyster or Imposter: How do You Know for Sure?

For a moment imagine that Britney Spears sends a Tweet to her 2.3 million followers asking them to go to TripAdvisor.com and post a vitriolic (would she use that word?) review of a hotel that failed to meet the pop Diva's expectations. If even 1/10 of one percent of them carried out this hypothetical mission, would the wisdom of the crowd concept have been compromised?

Absolutely, and "compromise" is perhaps a neutral term. How about "malicious manipulation?" While it may not be happening with Ms. Spears (that was just a colorful example), some observers believe it's happening a lot out there on the social media frontier, especially with individuals and organizations harboring a grudge or looking for a quick promotional punch for their product or service.

The notion of fair, balanced and accurate information coming from the impressionable and untrained minds of the crowd is a hot topic among marketers and social media anthropologists. Seems the activity of rating and reviewing "stuff" has become immensely popular, not to mention the foundation of collaborative filtering portals such as TripAdvisor.com, Hotels.com and countless other consumer review sites.

But can the wisdom of the unwashed masses match the supposed clarity, fairness, and accuracy of a well-trained few? Asked another way, what would you trust more, the aggregated metrics of 200 people with names like WingDingGuy79 who stayed at a particular hotel over the last few months, or the ratings and comments of a handful of experienced travel writers with profiles and credentials that can be viewed and verified?

Enter Oyster.com, a hotel review site that was launched last week to compete against the raw reviews of sites like TripAdvisor.com. The folks at Oyster are using tried and true journalistic techniques, with their own trained reporters exploring the nooks and crannies of a hotel property, taking photos and offering carefully considered ratings and comments. Like the sites that rely upon the wisdom of amatuers, Oyster.com reporters stay in the hotels they rate and check out the particulars that tend to matter most to travelers. But are the reviews really any better or more helpful than reviews posted by experienced travelers sharing their feedback on Hotels.com?

Seems the real question has to do with the credentials, experience, and perspective of the reviewer. There's no question in my mind that I would give more credibility to the review of an experienced business traveler with 20-years of business travel under his belt than I would a 22-year old journalism school graduate from who knows where doing this as a first job out of college. But how can you know for sure?

If this kind of social media is going to be really useful, we may need to have online review sites warrant that their reviewers are real by sharing some personal information about them. Information that gives the reader context. Oyster.com certainly hopes that their business model will be one solution. Meanwhile, did you read about that horrible hotel Britney stayed at last week. Read more...