Alive & Tweeting is on Instagram! (@ajsoltero)

Yes, I finally decided to get an Instagram account for the blog. My Instagram handle is the same as my twitter handle, so follow me (@ajsoltero) on my #AdventuresinSF as I post pictures on the go! 

If you don’t want to follow me (rude) you can still keep up with me by searching #AdventuresinSF, which is the hashtag I’ll be using during the rest of my time here! Once I move, I’ll update you with the new hashtag, so stay tuned to Alive & Tweeting.

Important note:

As per my article on Hypervocal (http://hypervocal.com/culture/2012/instagram-hashtags-tips/) I will not be uploading my pictures to my Facebook page and will only reserve the best ones to go up on this blog. In other words, get at me on Instagram for more constant updates.

Even more important note:

I (unlike a large number of users on Instagram) promise to not post pictures of food, cats, or anything else irrelevant about my life. I’m using it for the sole purpose of supplementing this blog. Oh, and dogs are cool. If you don’t like dogs, I do not want to associate myself with you.

ajs

Bot or not? Your image on Twitter

The world of Twitter (i.e., ‘Twittersphere’) remains flexible with regards to formulas for marketing success. Best practices and ‘tips and tricks’ have become common topics amongst blogs, online journals, and those who dare claim to be “social media experts”, but these all vary and –unlike Twitter etiquette– we all can’t seem to come to a consensus. I too have made many observations on the different writing styles and techniques to grasp readers’ attention on my own feed. During my recent experiences working for a social media firm and, although I cannot say I have solved our problem, I can say that there is one thing we should all watch out for: robot behavior.

As the dissemination of industry-relevant content from your own writing and from that of your trusted sources dominates inbound marketing strategies (especially for B2B companies), company handles run the risk of seeming robot-operated. When I say a ‘robot’ Twitter account, I mean an account that appears to publish the same pre-established template with every tweet, never giving any indication that there is a real person behind the operation. This annoys me. A lot.

I don’t want to follow a user that just regurgitates article titles and links as every tweet. I also don’t want to follow an account that will bombard my feed with 10 tweets in a row, one after the other. I want to follow a person or company who has an image I can clearly see and that can/will interact with their Twitter community freely. Looking at it from the other side, I want my brand’s Twitter handle to have a personality and be the living and breathing face of my company in social media, just as my personal one is for me.

The beauty of using Twitter for your company is precisely that. On Twitter, all users (people and companies) are created equal. This allows you to communicate your company’s real values, priorities, and even opinions; thus allowing your community to see who you are beyond commercials and reviews. At times, this goes to the extent that some people manage their company’s Twitter handle as their personal account. Don’t ruin this opportunity by building a program to manage your Twitter handle, or by refusing to put more than the minimal amount of work in you or your company’s social media efforts.

If this is what your social media image is, you might as well not even have one because it can even be damaging to your reputation. One of the first things I do when observing a profile for a possible follow is look at recent tweets and ask myself “bot or not?” Now, with this in mind, look at your page objectively and ask yourself the same question.

Based in San Francisco, CA for the summer.

Dear readers, 

I hope this post finds you all having great summers, wherever you may be.

First off, sorry I haven’t been posting as often lately. That is changing as of right now.

Secondly, I’m here in the beautiful, 7x7 city of San Francisco, CA for the summer. I came to intern for LEWIS Pulse (lewispulse.com), the new social media branch of the global LEWIS PR company (lewispr.com). It took me about a week to settle down and get on a steady schedule, but now I’m officially alive and tweeting from San Francisco.

My internship has gotten me more focused on using social media as a B2B marketing and public relations tool, so this is mainly what is coming from my twitter feed. This may also be reflected on my blog posts. However, Alive and Tweeting will definitely still have the general approach to social media that I originally intended. The only difference for this summer will be the adventures, which, of course, will be based out of SF. So keep up for new posts and updates coming soon!

I leave you with a picture of downtown SF.

ajs

See how Obama and the Republican candidates stack up in terms of #SocialMedia dominance via @SMChimps

Social media’s role in political campaigns has been heavily increasing over the past few elections, especially given its power and reach to the younger population. Social Media Chimps does a great job in analyzing how this year’s Republican candidates stack up against Obama in their use of social media by comparing their Likes on Facebook, Twitter follower base, and other interesting variables in this article. 

Social Media Chimps is an online social media magazine and also one of my favorite places for news and pretty much everything social media related. Be sure to check them out and subscribe to their newsletter, you will not be disappointed! 

Source: socialmediachimps.com

Inside Navlit: Kenny Cohen talks about the new social media solution to group collaboration

Tufts entrepreneur Kenny Cohen is one of the three founders of Navlit, a new social media platform specifically for group collaboration. Given the recent launch of the site in Private Beta stage at Tufts University, I approached Kenny, -both a brother and colleague of mine- to see what Navlit is all about from the inside. 

 

Q: So talk to me about Navlit, what is it and where did the idea come from?

A:  The idea for Navlit was a result of our frustration with how difficult it was to stay in touch with friends using long email chains and messaging threads. With emails, it seemed like all of our conversations were lost in our inbox over time, which made them hard to reference at a later date. With messaging threads, it was difficult to hold multiple conversations simultaneously. Basically we saw that we were sharing less with our friends because there wasn’t really a social, private, and organized platform for us to use. John came to me with this problem, and Navlit was born.

 

Q: What is the central goal of Navlit as a social media platform/network? Where/what part of Navlit has the most potential to be a success or a gamechanger in social media?

A:  Our primary goal is to provide a private platform for groups to collaborate in a social and organized way. There is not another site where groups can hold multiple conversations simultaneously while maintaining a social feel and emphasis on sharing all forms of content. 

 

Q: So where does a name like Navlit come from?

A:  The name Navlit came from users navigating around their groups, which we call fires. The feeling you get when sharing around a lit fire is very secure, and we want our users to have that same feeling when using the site.

 

Q: What makes it different from other social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter? What can you do on Navlit that you cannot do elsewhere?

A:  We view Navlit as a complement to Facebook and Twitter. Since we are specializing in private group collaboration, we are able to create a more focused platform that emphasizes the needs of group communication. Users don’t have to worry about setting up profiles or privacy settings, which makes for a much simpler process on an individual level. For groups, we offer a platform that can hold multiple simultaneous conversations, which helps facilitate meaningful conversations online in a familiar way. 

 

Q:  Do you intend to use other platforms to boost awareness and use of your site?

A:  We definitely plan on utilizing existing social media platforms to reach users. We have an active Facebook page (facebook.com/navlit) and Twitter feed (@navlit). These resources are great ways for us to connect with both our existing and future users, and we plan on using them heavily going forward. 

 

Q:  Sophomore at Tufts, Quant Econ major, you got your hands full already. I can’t imagine this is an easy thing to be doing on top of all that, so what’s your motivation for starting this site?

A: It’s easy to make time for something you are genuinely passionate about. We definitely have to make sacrifices with work or social plans, but everyone on our team is dedicated to our goals and excited about where we are going with the product.

 

Q:  Who are your partners? Who’s in charge of what and what will you be doing now that you launched your site?

A:   Our team is the following:

John Brennan: Co-Founder

Kenneth Cohen: Co-Founder

Mark Timmerman: Co-Founder, Head Developer

Now that we are up and running at Tufts, we just want to keep improving the existing version of the site while trying to reach out to new users on campus. We really want to create a strong base at Tufts so we can receive valuable feedback as we move forward. We are focusing on connecting with college campuses, as we feel that the site will be especially useful for students. We are looking into various incubator programs and will hopefully continue working on the site through the summer.

  

Q:   What are Navlit’s next objectives as a social media network?

A:   We just want to continue to work on our product and improve the user experience on the site. As a small team, we are able to iterate changes to the site quickly, which is especially helpful in these early stages. We have some big long-term ideas that will hopefully make Navlit the primary place for group collaboration online.

 

 

 

Keep up with Kenny and Navlit on Twitter!

 

www.twitter.com/kennethacohen

 

www.twitter.com/navlit

Source: navlit.com

Brett Andler talks about his team’s promising new iPhone game Whoizit

Maybe you’ve seen it on Facebook or Twitter, or maybe you stumbled upon it on kickstarter.com. Either way, this new iPhone game idea is called Whoizit and it is a definite eye-catcher both because of its name and its genius integration of social media with a classic 90’s favorite game: Guess Who.

I sat down with Brett Andler, an Entrepreneur from Tufts University who is part of the team that’s behind Whoizit, to talk about the app and his team’s current goals. 

Álvaro : Brett, lay it down for the readers of Alive & Tweeting. Talk about the App, how it works and how it integrates social media, your team, etc.

Brett :

The game is called Whoizit, and it’s based on the 90’s board game Guess Who, except instead of asking about generic cartoon characters, the characters are your mutual friends on Facebook. This moves the game away form boring questions like “does this person have facial hair?” into more probing, fun questions like “was this person at our party last weekend?” It will be available on iOS, Android, WP7, and Facebook and is being developed by a rockstar team that combines developers who’ve worked at companies like Microsoft and Nuance. We are mostly business and engineering students from a variety of Boston area schools (Tufts, Bentley, and Southern New Hampshire University). 

We all came together at a competition in Boston called Startup Weekend where we worked for 56 hours straight to create a proof of concept which we pitched to a panel of industry experts. At Startup Weekend we were awarded the Audience Choice Award. Following this success, we went on to become the first runner up at the Tufts Entrepreneurs Society’s elevator pitch competition.

The team is really excited about where we currently are, but even more excited to move forward and make the idea a reality. We currently have a Kickstarter page up and a website running at www.whoizitgame.com.

Álvaro: So what is kickstarter and what are your team’s goals?

Brett:  Kickstarter is a platform where you can post ideas and a certain goal of funding, in our case $10K. You then post rewards that people get for donating. Ours range from copies of the game, to T-shirts, posters, and iPod touches. The big difference with Kickstarter though, and what makes it so cool and unique is that if you reach the funding goal, then everyone gets charged and you’re expected to provide the rewards. However, if you don’t make it, no one gets charged. This is a big deal because with something like Whoizit, we wouldn’t be able to complete it if we didn’t get all $10K, and we’d be stuck accepting money for a product we’d know we would be unable to deliver. Kickstarter lets us collect money in a no risk situation for both parties so it’s truly a win-win situation. 

Be sure to check out Whoizit and their kickstarter page at: 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451859509/whoizit 

and help Brett Andler’s team make this awesome new iPhone game a reality!

Source: whoizitgame.com