Homework for My Social Media Students

As many of you know, I sometimes teach social media seminars through the local community education program (as well I do private social media “tutoring.”  I have classes coming up in 2011 in Twitter and using social media to promote your blog.)  Many people benefit enormously from seeing someone else doing it and explaining it, more than reading a book or any of the numerous blogs out there — but there are wonderful books and blogs out there.  This blog […]

Location-based Social Media for Good

While reading the Boston Sunday Globe, I was struck by an article about the lack of maps of the handicapped parking spaces in Boston and Cambridge.  Anything location-oriented seems like a problem that could be solved by one of the location-based social media tools.  Hey, SCVNGR or FourSquare — what do you think?  I would think you could enlist your users to mark all those spots and offer a digital map.  Show us you are about more than just games.

What Happens in Vegas

What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas if you choose to share all the gory details. There’s been plenty written on maintaining a professional image online.  Dozens, probably hundreds, of articles urge young people to think about how their social media profile stacks up when a potential employer looks at what’s available online.  But what if you are hiring people to represent your company online through social media?

TGIFriday’s Fan Woody Fail

I watch how the big boys play the marketing game.  Sometimes I learn stuff and sometimes I am not amused, nor impressed.  The recent campaign from TGIFriday’s, its let’s get 500,000 fans on Facebook project, is an example of the latter.