*This post is about Twitter, a microblogging tool. If you don’t know what Twitter is, click here for an explanation.

Twitter is no longer an exclusively techie/dork medium. Real estate agents, TV stations, newspapers, and even Britney Spears are using Twitter. Depending on your social media savyness, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks to really get the hang of Twitter. And from what I can tell, media outlets, at least locally, are a little slower to harness the power of the Twitterverse.

I’m not trying to be critical, because I applaud them for even using Twitter. We can only hope that the “how” to effectively use Twitter will come soon.

In Roanoke, Va., the 70th ranked TV market in the country, only three of the four major network affiliates have Twitter accounts. WSLS, the NBC affiliate, only recently created an account, but has done an admirable job of posting timely and regular news updates. WSET, the ABC affiliate has been posting for much longer, but I have a beef about how they use Twitter, but I’ll get to that a little later. WDBJ7, which is my preferred local news source even though I used to anchor and report for WSLS, has a Twitter account, but has only posted one update. Lastly (in almost ever sense of the word), the WFXR, the Fox affiliate, does not have Twitter, much less its own news department - they pay the NBC station to produce the Fox 10 p.m. newscast.

Oh, and my favorite local news anchor (sorry Jay!) Natasha Ryan has a Twitter account. From what I can tell, only her and WSET reporter and weekend anchor Margaret Clevenstine are the only local on-air personalities with active Twitter accounts. Both are relatively new to Twitter. Natasha just started hers and Maggie has been on since July, but hasn’t posted a new update since Sept. 7. Booo!

Look, there’s not one right way to use Twitter and I suppose that certain Twitter patterns appeal to different people. But, the way I see it - Twitter is a “what’s happening now” service. And in that regard, WSET fails in my opinion. See the picture below which is a screen shot of what appears on my Twitter home page, which displays all of the Tweets from the Tweeple I follow. This is not what I want to see.

Clearly it appears that they have some automated system, probably something akin to TwitterFeed (or some poor intern) that blasts all of their news stories at one time. Uh, no. If I want all of your news at once at a predicable time, I would WATCH your news. I’m looking for you to post news AS it happens. That is the point of using Twitter.

Now, I worked in TV for a number of years and for the most part, there are still a lot of zealots running the show, so the transition and adoption of new means of communcations are slow to make their way to the newsroom. Which, is really mind boggling considering that these tools such as blog and microblogs are completely free and can be used with Mobile devices. If you can send and receive text messages, you can post and receive Tweets. It just takes some time to educate your staff and management - something I would be HAPPY to do for WSET and any other company that wants to learn more about Twitter.

Yes, I know, I can sign up for text alerts from virtually any news outlet and that’s cool, but I only get those after the stories have been filed and someone has posted them to the Web site which then triggers the alert to come to my phone. But imagine if a reporter is on the scene of major event, but is waiting for the live truck and the news director can’t be reached to authorize a break-in-programming live event? How cool would it be to read a reporter’s accounts of the news event as it happens?

For example: Let’s say we have a standoff (which I have covered as a photo journalist), but the reporter is just standing there while the photog (videographer) is rolling endless minutes of tape waiting for something to happen.

@tv-reporter: Camera is rolling and the SWAT team is getting into position, but police won’t say if or when they will go in.

@tv-reporter: Gunman is yelling out of his window. Wants the police to back off. Threatening to shoot anyone that comes in.

@tv-reporter: Lots of activity. Feels like something is about to happen - stay tuned!

@tv-reporter: They’re going in! Camera is still rolling! Loud explosion from the flash-bang grenade. No shots - suspect in custody!

Now, this brings up a whole other issue, but one that the media has dealt with before: what if the bad guys are Twittering, too? Highly doubtful, at least now it is. Who knows in 5-10 years?

The bottom line is, this is a free tool that media outlets should be taking advantage of. Every reporter should have a Twitter account and giving viewers and readers behind the scenes information about the news they are covering, especially TV because we only get :30 to :90 worth of news per story and that’s not enough to tell the whole story.

The age of media convergeance is upon us. Newspapers like the Roanoke Times send reporters out in the field with video cameras to post video and interviews on the Web site. TV stations are having their anchors write print-style news for the station’s Web site, though they should really be using blogs at this point - especially Twitter.

Friday afternoon marked the completion of my first week back to the 9-to-5 world, though these days it’s more like 8-8:30 a.m. to 4:30-5 p.m., depending on your lunch break. Anyhow, I’m still getting settled and trying to get a feel for where I will fit in with my new team.

My primary responsibility is as chief Web editor (a.k.a. uber Web geek) for three Web sites run by my department. However, my job description also calls upon my search engine optimization and marketing experience, as well as my social media skills (i.e. Twitter, blogging, Facebook, etc.). It really is the perfect job for me in that it allows me to utilize all of my professional skills.

Because social media is part of the gig, I am on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day. I monitor my social and professional networks throughout the day and the majority, if not all, of my profiles are public, so finding out what I’m up to is not at all difficult. But I was a little taken aback when I saw a Facebook friend request from my new boss. Then came the Twitter follow. Yikes! My boss is following me on Facebook and Twitter … this could get interesting.

I am quite sure that he is clearly social media savvy, did due diligence (i.e. he Googled me) before he decided to bring me on board. So, I’m sure he realized that I am very active in my social media groups, which of course are public, and that’s one of the reasons I have achieved a certain level of respectability in my professional circles. Not only do I offer SEO advice on sites like Twitter, I also seek feedback when I am faced with a challenge that I cannot overcome alone.

During my interview, I was asked how I would go about finding a solution for a problem I was unable to figure out. My first response was - “I have experienced the power and reach of Twitter, so I would start there.” OK, maybe I didn’t say those exact words, but it was something close. :)

The point of this blog is that my new boss is now following me on Twitter and Facebook. I do not generally post negative or controversial comments on either, but there is still that fear that something I will post - even if it is on my own time - will potentially bother my new supervisor. He seems like a pretty open-minded and accepting guy, but you just never know.

The social media age is creating an entirely new set of issues for employers and employees alike. While free speech is still protected, your job is not necessarily protected depending on what speech you are freely throwing out there. Cases in point: the Philadelphia Eagles fired a seasonal employee after he blasted the team on Facebook for letting one of his favorite players go; a would-be Cisco new-hire was lambasted by the Twitterverse and other social media outlets after he was offered a job and then Twittered about a “fatty paycheck” and “hating the work.” No word on whether he was fired, but a Cisco rep found the Twit (er, Tweet) and replied with:

Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.

I have no intentions of calling my current employer names and nor do I hate the work (or get a “fatty” paycheck for that matter), so I’d like to think that I’m safe. However, I’d be lying if I said I don’t put just a little more thought into what I post on my accounts. That’s not to say I’m not going to keep posting what I think, but I will give it a little extra thought to make sure that I’m not putting my livelihood at risk.

Does your boss or co-workers following you via Twitter, Facebook or other social media sites? Do you have any horror stories or funny anectdotes to share?

Since joining Twitter in January 2008, I have posted more than 4,100 Tweets, received more than 500 “follow” notification e-mails and currently have 360 followers. At first, I did my best to weed out (i.e. block) the accounts using Twitter for the wrong reasons such as spamming, shameless self promotion or agressively pushing an agenda. But, with about 10 new follows a day, it became a bit time consuming to go through and block all the bots and jokers that started following me.

With so many new followers every day, why isn’t my “followers” list a little bigger? Well, that’s because Twitter appears to be doing a great job of suspending the suspicious accounts. For example, yesterday I got hit with four new followers whose user names all followed a similar pattern - a woman’s first name, a middle initial and a year. (See the image on the right.)

Though I have no information or research to back it up, my theory is that these Twitter spammers (Twammers) are targeting males by using women’s names and years - presumably birth years - to appeal to an age group that I might consider potential dating material. I believe these accounts are automatically generated and then use an API script to search for a specific demographic within the Twitterverse.

What I cannot understand is how anyone with half a brain could consider these accounts to be credible and return the follow. Any time you have a Twitter account with a disproportionate ratio of following/followers, that should be a red flag. If very few people are following a user, but they are following several hundred, be cautious. There are some accounts, such as CNN, that have a million-plus followers, but don’t follow very many in return. That’s acceptable in my book. Not ideal, but acceptable.

What other signs should you look for before you follow someone that has followed you on Twitter? Excellent question! Assuming you aren’t one of those people that likes to rack up the “followers” total on your profile, and you actually care about credibility and your online reputation; just using a little common sense will point you in the right direction. Here are just a few things that I look for:

Do they have a picture?

If the picture is of some busty woman in a bikini or provacative pose, that’s a huge red flag and grounds for immediate blockage. I prefer to see a face so that I at least feel like I might have the opportunity to communicate with a human and not some corporate mouthpiece. I do follow some Twitter accounts with logos or other non-personal images, but those are generally trusted accounts like CNET, CNN, LighterFootstep, etc.

What does their bio say about them?

This is probably the third thing I look at, right after their user name and profile picture. I want to know if they are real. If their profile is related to my interests and seems genuine, then I am more likely to reciprocate the follow. If there is no bio, 99 percent of the time I will not follow them. Take the time and tell me about yourself (in 160 characters or less) and you will likely get more followers.

What do they Tweet about?

Content, content, content. It’s the Twitter equivalent to real estate’s location, location, location. What are they Tweeting about? Are they pushing links all the time with masked URLs from tinyurl.com, snurl.com and digg.com? If so, that’s a red flag for me. I get enough e-mail spam - I don’t want it showing up on my Twitter stream. Are they interesting, funny or posting informational content? If so, I am more likely to follow. If every other post is “People are dumb,” I would likely include that person in the aforementioned generalization and not follow them.

Also, if someone posts inflammatory or offensive content, I will “unfollow” them. I actually stopped following someone for their derrogatory and ignorant comments about President Barack Obama. I respect people’s right to free speech and the fact that everyone has their own opinion, but I also value my right to not listen. That being said, I don’t unfollow people for posting opinions with which I disagree, but if there is a pattern of offensive posts, you are going to get the unfollow.

How many posts?

This criteria is related to the previous two items in that I want to see how many Tweets this person has under their belt. If I visit a new follower’s profile and they’re following 500+ people, have two followers and only 1 update, that’s a pretty good sign that this is not a legit account. I have had legit newbies follow me and when I see their profile I see they are following 20 people, have 12 followers and a few posts. I will give that Twitterer the benefit of the doubt and see how they do. I am all about encouraging the use of social media, but only for the purposes of good, silliness, frivolity, tomfoolery and of course networking and knowledge sharing.

I think just using a little common sense will make your Twitter experience a little more enjoyable. And don’t be afraid to not follow or unfollow someone or something that you don’t feel comfortable with.

Remember Tiny URL? I do. I remember it like it was yesterday … well, it was about six months ago, but in the world of social media six months feels more like decade. I discovered a new URL-shortening tool called bit.ly. I have seen it before and even used it because it’s shortened URL structure was slightly smaller than Tiny URL, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered additional features that allow you to track how many people click on the links you share and even add a sidebar to make sharing even easier.

Both Tiny URL and bit.ly have browser bar tools that allow you to shorten a URL (Web site) by simply clickling a button in your browser. Bit.ly, however, takes it step further by allowing you to create an account and adding a sidebar that slides out when you click on the browser bar button. From this sidebar, you can send the automatically shortened link via Twitter, Facebook, Gmail or e-mail. Or, you can copy and paste it manually if you are leery about linking your Twitter account.

Once you have an account and are logged in, you can start seeing stats for how many times your followers and/or friends are clicking on the links you share via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail. Cool, I know … but how does this help me?

For starters, it appeases general curiosity. How many people find what I share interesting enough to click on the link? If you aren’t getting any clicks then perhaps you should consider a couple of things:

1) Maybe your followers are not interested in what you have to say.
2) Consider rewording your anchor text (text describing the link) to make it more appealing.

You’ve probably seen the Twitter posts that reads something like…

“OMG! You HAVE to check this out! http://clickhere.dufus”

No way I am clicking on that link. I have no idea what it is and I don’t like surprises (at least not on the Web). I want a heads up about the link I am about to follow. Be more descriptive about the link you are sharing. For example:

“Check out The Lyric theatre in Blacksburg for a cheap movie date! Two tix, large soda & free popcorn (Mondays) for $11! http://bit.ly/uUHYO”

My followers know exactly what they are getting and if they like the “headline” that I have provided, they are more likely to click on the bit.ly link.

There was a time when using a URL condensing tool didn’t really make much sense because in some cases, it actually made the link longer and added more characters to your 140-character limit with Twitter. For example:

http://thelyric.com has 19 characters as does the bit.ly version - http://bit.ly/uUHYO. So, what’s the benefit? Tracking! That’s where bit.ly does a great job of providing incentive to shorten a link even when it doesn’t actually shorten a link.

For SEO folks (search engine optimization) there is the question of whether TIny URL and other link shortener tools pass “link juice” or anchor text value on to the link URL that was condensed. According to some SEOs Google has started following the Tiny URLs and passing anchor text value.

My other concern is that some of these services will eventually shut down and then you are stuck with a plethora of broken links and subsequently an error 404 hell for a Webmaster. Eventually a front runner will emerge from the URL shortener race and will hopefully stick around for awhile so that all our itsy bitsy URLs will remain intact.

For a more thorough explanation of URL shorteners and the various services available, check out Jane Copland’s post at SEOMoz.com. The post is from last September and Jane is no longer at SEOMoz in Seattle, but it’s still a valuable and informative resource.

tweetups:

That’s a frequently asked question amongst my non-geek friends and if you are here, you are probably asking the same question … or, you Googled it. Either way, willkommen! (That’s welcome in German.)

I love social media and even more, I love spreading the word about cool Web-based technologies. Now, Twitter certainly isn’t new, at least not in terms of the Web - in which something “new” today can be a fleeting memory in two months (does Plurk ring a bell).

Twitter has been around for a little more than two years and has gained quite a bit of traction. It’s everywhere. Every major news network has one, “A” List celebrities, star athletes, politicians and of course the average joes like me.

The first question I get about Twitter from those that “don’t get it,” is, “What’s the point?” They don’t mean it in a condescending way, they just want someone to explain the value of using Twitter. My response is that you get out of Twitter what you put in. If you Tweet (or post) pointless babble or mundane daily activities, you’ll get nothing out of it. However, if you seek to gain or share knowledge, the possibilities are endless.

For example: I work for the largest public university in Virginia and I am a jack-of-all trades for a communications department. My diverse background in radio, television and print journalism coupled with my Web and social media skills allow me to perform a wide variety of tasks. However, because I do so much, I sometimes don’t have all the answers … shocking news, I know. However, that’s where Twitter has really proved helpful.

If I have a question, I turn to Twitter and nine out of 10 times, someone will answer my question. Like I said, you get what you give, so if you don’t participate and help others that are searching for help or suggestions, you are only taking and the Twitter community (shoot, any community for that matter) typically does not appreciate those type of users.

One of the many great thing about Twitter is that you get to communicate with people that if not for Twitter, you might never have had the chance to connect. A friend and colleauge @handshake20, whom I met through Twitter, wrote a great blog post on this very topic called A Tweet from India in which she talks about a connection that would never have happened if not for Twitter. In the post @handshake20 talks about meeting a Twitter friend in person for the first time at Tweetup. Ah! There’s that word again! What is a Tweetup? I know. I know. You probably thought that I forgot about the point of this post, but I appreciate your patience - I had to set the scene.

A Tweetup, as you may have guessed by now, is a physical gathering of Twitter users to meet and connect in person. For me, it began by meeting a single person I communicated with on Twitter - @NRVLiving. He works in real estate and through some mutual friends, we started “following” each other’s updates on Twitter. He learned that I do Web site and blog implementations and contacted me about doing some work for him. So, we met in person. My first Tweetup. Then, I thought, well, why not meet more people. I had been invited to Tweetups in Roanoke, but that was a bit too far for me to drive, so I organized a Blacksburg Tweetup and invited my Twitter friends that live in the area.

Word began to spread and more people started coming. I’ve organized four Tweetups in the last few months and attendance has ranged from four to 12. And each time someone new comes and I get to learn a bit more about someone whom I’ve never met. This in turn broadens my horizons and expands my world. I walk away from each Tweetup with a smile because I’ve laughed out loud and shared a new experience with new people.

To quote President Barack Obama, “Now, let me be clear…” a Tweetup isn’t just for people you don’t know. That would be hard to do every time. You can invite anyone! Even non-Twitter users. Bringing a friend is a tremendous comfort to have, especially if you aren’t necessarily an extrovert. Some people like to call Tweetups a gathering of Web nerds or geeks. Perhaps. It just depends on your experiences. Me … I think of Tweetups as a chance to open doors, learn new things and meet new people.

I know what you’re thinking, “Wow! Tweetups are all the rage! I want to go to one, but how?” Okay, calm down Skippy - we appreciate the enthusiasm, but it’s really simple. First, you need a Twitter account. Then, you need to start following local Twitter users. Then you suggest a Tweetup and use a hash tag to create a stream of any Tweets that are related. For example, we use #blacksburgtweetup for our Blacksburg Tweetup-related Tweets.

I shouldn’t have to point this out, but I will any way: use your brain and be smart! Don’t show up to a Tweetup in a place you don’t know at night with people you’ve never met. Duh! The Tweetups I organize are usually during lunch breaks at fairly busy and well-trafficked areas and I usually know - personally - at least a couple of people. Take a friend with you if you are going to your first Tweetup.

That’s it. That’s all I have. If you have specific questions, please feel free to e-mail me.