#WillYouMarryMe

I guess I should have seen this coming.  With all the engagement proposals around Christmas time, dozens of commercials for diamond rings and other fancy things, it was inevitable.  Proposals over Twitter.

Last weekend, Kat Von D, the tattoo artist and TV personality who was the 'other woman' in Sandra Bullock and Jesse James's divorce, was proposed to by electronic music star DJ Deadmau5.  

And it happened on Twitter.  Check this out: 

How romantic.... I suppose.

So, apparently this is not a new thing.  I was aghast last September after reading about the Turkish couple exchanging vows over Twitter.  But there have also been other Twitter proposals!  Here is a sampling dating as far back as 2008.

Is this the new "writing your name across the sky"?  Has Twitter replaced skywriting or proposals under the 

mistletoe?  It seems so impersonal to me, not even face-to-face and condensing your love to the 140-character limit.  Maybe its good for shy, rambling types who have a limited romantic vocabulary anyway.

What do you think about Twitter proposals?  Would you ever partake, or say yes to someone over Twitter?

#PrayersForNewtown

I am just speechless and heartbroken for the families in Newtown, Connecticut.
Today, I urge you to get offline.  Go visit your mom.  Go hug your brother. Call a long-distance relative to tell them how much they mean to you.
And say a prayer for those involved in today's senseless shootings.  My thoughts, prayers and love go out to the community.

Rumor Has It: Filter Fight 2012

If you can't beat them, join them.  
According to rumors, Twitter is taking this advice as a next step in its war against Instagram!  
Twitter hasn't confirmed this yet, but here's the latest gab... 
Before the end of the year (that's not too much longer!), Twitter is rumored to be releasing photo filters of its own to use right within the app.  This is a logical next step to competing Instagram out of Twitter’s market.
I'm pretty excited.  Instagram's filters were one of the things I was most thankful for this year, remember!?  And we all know about my love for Twitter.  So I am falling right into Twitter's plan for market domination, huh?  Thus far, Instagram has actually made it quite easy to use both apps together, but Twitter is now putting a stop to that (like I mentioned last week). 
Geez, this rivalry is making me want to pick a side!  But I just love both, so it’s hard!  Maybe Twitter's rumored filters will push me over the edge onto Team Twitter!? More updates on this as they come!   

Are you Team Twitter or Team Instagram??  
And, more food for thought, if you could have Twitter improve something about photo filters, what would it be?

Instagram "Defriends" Twitter!

The way I see it, Facebook and Twitter were like the odd couple of social media. They are similar, but different enough that people used both.  And everyone seemed happy.  That is, until this September when Facebook's affair with Instagram began!  Sure enough, Facebook bought Instagram and now no one is happy.

The latest feud here is over pictures.  Instagram previously used Twitter as a way to get traction for its images.  But now that it's owned by Facebook, that game plan is changing.  This week, Instagram's CEO announced the company wants to keep users and their images solely on the Instagram site.  Now, Instagram pictures are not displaying correctly on Twitter!  Twitter updated its site this week claiming that Instagram has disabled its integration with Twitter cards (which are used to display images on the site).

Oh. My. Gosh.

This sounds like a bunch of bickering fifth graders to me.

What happened to customer service? What happened to caring about user experience?  Yes, the sites should want users on their site but NOT at the cost of hindering our overall social media experience.

This seems like it is going to be a long and drawn out war.  I've tested images through Instagram and they seem like they are showing up fine on Twitter.  So is this just being blown out of proportion?  Or are we headed into social media throwdown?  Only time will tell.

Are you having compatibility problems between Instagram and Twitter?  Do you think Instagram is right to disable their pictures within tweets?

Could This Be The #Trendiest #Babyname Ever?

Quick, what do these words have in common: Apple, Sparrow, Bluebell.

Yeah, crazy celebrity baby names.  We all get a kick out of them, but I've never understood going for shock value when naming a baby.

This week, my friends, we have what has to be the #trendiest baby name of the #Twitter generation.  I'm giving you clues.  Any guesses yet?

Hashtag.

I'm not kidding.

Last Saturday night, baby Hashtag was born and her proud mama posted this pic of the precious child onto Facebook, announcing her birth and her unique name.  Granted, this Facebook post isn't an official birth announcement, but the story has blown up on Twitter and transferred to more mainstream sources including Huffington Post. 

Sigh, I don't even know anymore.  I thought we'd gotten to a new low last February when the family in Egypt named their son "Facebook" to honor the website's role in igniting Egypt's revolution.  That was different, but at least tied to a worthy cause.  Hashtag?  Someone please tell me why that is necessary or meaningful!

I'd recommend to this girl to start going by "Ash" as quickly as possible.  Otherwise, recess teasing might get pretty rough.

Know of any other crazy baby names? Share your strangest below!

Top 10 Things to be Thankful For: Social Media Style

30 Days of Thanksgiving has taken over my Facebook feed.  Every other person seems to have taken the oath to write one thing per day for each day of November that they are thankful for.  I love it.  It is so important in our daily lives to take a moment to remember our blessings.

With that said, what if some of the things I am actually thankful for don't seem to fit with the status updates?  Most people are saying lovely, beautiful, heartfelt appreciations every single day.  Example:  For the love my husband bestows on me every day.  For the children who light up my life with their laughter.  For the family that has stayed by my side through my biggest struggles.

Yes, these are all wonderful things to recognize.  But for me, a social-media-lover, it makes some of my potential posts wither away from lack of significance.
BUT NO MORE!  I post proudly to the world, the Top 10 Things I am Thankful for in Social Media!

10. Thankful for Twitter for being there to tell me the facts when I THINK I feel an earthquake, but am not positive.
9. Thankful to Instagram for making me look like a much more creative photographer than I actually am.

8. Thankful for Pinterest for motivating me to clean areas of my house that I didn't even know were dirty!

7. Thankful for Skype, that I can virtually be with the ones I love even if we are far apart for the holidays.

6. Thankful for Goodreads, my digital book cataloger-of-choice, for suggesting amazing books and steering me away from less than stellar ones.
5. Thankful for streaming Netflix on my iPad, for those nights when I can't fall asleep but don't want to go all the way to the couch to turn on the TV.
4. Thankful for YouTube and its instructional videos that instantly teach me everything from "Best way to tie a long scarf" to "How to fix a cracked iPhone Screen".
3. Thankful for status updates that help me stay, at least somewhat, in the loop on the lives of friends and family that I would not be able to otherwise.  
2. Thankful for Facebook Birthday Reminders, you know you need these too!!
1. Thankful for my SocialMediaDiva family and readers for their love and support!

Of course there are so many more social media tools and tricks that make our lives just a little better every day.  Let us know the ones you are most thankful for.  And Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  

Is Social Media the Other Woman - Or Man - In Your Love Life?

 

I love the holidays.  It is truly the best time of the year.  And the best time for love and romance.  Nothing like snuggling up in front of the fireplace, sharing some eggnog and singing a few holiday tunes with Dean Martin or Neil Diamond.  

 

Ahh.  Now that's romantic.  But then....

 

Does technology grab your significant other's attention?  Does he or she start checking the old smartphone?  I am starting to wonder whether social media is the other woman - or other man - in relationships today.  Mashable an interesting article this week on the biggest problems technology brings to relationships. Here's my take on their top 5 Social Media Relationship Pitfalls!

1. Constant Tweeting/Facebooking/Emailing

Ever been on a date or at dinner with your significant other and you can't keep their attention long enough to hold a conversation? Keeping up with the fast pace of our digital lives is important, but we shouldn't be sacrificing face to face time for it! Typing on your cellphone throughout dinner doesn't make your partner feel loved or cared about, so put it away and focus on making googly eyes at each other instead!

2. Sharing info on Twitter/Facebook before you share it with your partner

This is a major no no. If your mate finds out about your promotion from a tweet, something is broken. It may not be an intentional slight, but make sure you are mindful about how to share information!

3. Should I de-friend my ex?

This is a tough one. Your comfort level with being Facebook friends with an ex might be different than your partner's. It's an important conversation to have. And even if you don't cut off digital ties completely, make sure you aren't constantly "checking in" on that ex's life and kids and updates- it may be tempting, but it's not worth it.

4. Why is SHE commenting on your pictures?

Do you get instantly suspicious when another girl (or guy) writes on your partner's Facebook wall or likes their photos? You are not the only one. Voicing these thoughts constantly will make you look crazy, but holding them in too long will DRIVE you crazy!

5. Relationship status updates: oh my!

This is the big conundrum of social media relationship issues. "It's complicated" "In a relationship" "Single"? Putting your status up for the world to see is a big stepp.  But the bigger question often is: "To change or not to change?" I'm in the camp of being slow to update a relationship status, unless you just got married or engaged.  Often girls who think their beau might be cheating on them are eager to get that "in a relationship" status up and linked to their partner. But trust me, if you have these concerns, the status-war is the least of your worries!  And you better make sure that the man in question agrees to the posting.

Have you dealt with any of these social media relationship pitfalls? What advice do you give your friends to deal with these problems?

What are your biggest relationship arguments that technology has caused? Let us know in the comments below.

Rest Assured, Your Twitter Account Wasn't Hacked.

 

 

If you woke up to an email from Twitter warning that your account might have been compromised, rest easy. Twitter reported that they mistakenly emailed a mass amount of users urging them to change their passwords, when only a few accounts were actually in danger.

I was one of those users, and received this email this morning: "Twitter believes that your account may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with Twitter. We've reset your password to prevent others from accessing your account."

Yikes!

Luckily, no strange tweets from my handle. Best thing to do is be safe and change your password, even if you don't think your account was one of those actually targeted. But don't lose sleep over it! And, follow these tips from The Twitter Team for the safest tweeting experience!

• Always check that your browser's address bar is on a https://twitter.com website before entering your password. Fake scam sites often look just like Twitter, so check the URL before entering your login information!
• Don't use websites or services that only promise to get you lots of followers. These sites have been known to send spam updates and damage user accounts.
• Review your approved connections on your Applications page at https://twitter.com/settings/applications. If you see any applications that you don't recognize, click the Revoke Access button.

Be Happy! Keep Tweeting!

 

Rule #1: Don't use Tragedy as a Marketing Ploy

Thoughts and prayers going out this week to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Tragedies such as this leave many social media users in a sticky situation.  This week, a few companies have been ridiculed for not being sensitive enough to those affected by Sandy.

Possibly the worst offender was American Apparel, who sent an email blast for a "Hurricane Sandy Sale'' - targeting its price cuts to just those on the east coast. Even with the promise of "20% off", Twittersphere did not approve.

Gap followed suit with a slightly less aggressive move, attaching well wishes in the same tweet as a call to action for online shopping. Similar backlash ensued.

Call me naive, but I don't believe that either of these companies had entirely bad intentions when making these moves.  Their vision, however, was short sighted. Tying the company's profit to their sentiment of compassion made them seem inauthentic.  And that doesn't sit well in social media.

A better idea would have been to send the same sentiment but with a promotion donating portions of any online sales that day directly to those affected.  See what that does?  By changing the benefactor of the promotion from the company to those who are in need, you can align the organization with the concern.

 

The line between relevance and self-promotion can be thin.  Do you think these companies went too far?

 

 

Death By Twitter Rampage!

I'm telling you, these Death By Twitter posts will just never end.  This week's offensive ranter is British soccer star Ashley Cole.  England's Football Association- the target of the angry tweet - fined Ashley £90,000 (aka $145,000) for what they deemed bringing "the game into disrepute".  Ashley's rash reaction was in response to an FA commission questioning the evidence he gave in defending his Chelsea teammate John Terry against a charge of racially abusing an opponent.

Per usual, the tweet was deleted soon after its posting.  But we all know in the social media world, you can delete but you can't hide.  Even with its short-lived initial digital presence, the tweet attracted more than 17,000 retweets and countless screenshots around websites.

Unlike some of our Olympic Death By Twitterers, Ashley escaped a ban from the Football Association, but we are still waiting to hear if his Chelsea team will add to the fine or even decide on other kinds of punishment. 

Which do you think is the most effective consequence for these offensive tweets?  Fines or expulsion?  Or is there a better solution altogether?

My name is Social Media Diva, and I approve this message.

 

Ahh, the telltale sign of election season used to be just all those ads on TV!  But this is being called the Social Media Election which means that campaigns now have a huge presence in social media so there's really no getting away from them!  It's going to be interesting to see just how effective these social media campaigns are, and which candidate is doing it better.

I love this new interactive infographic from Unruly. It's the exclusive measurement tool for tracking the 2012 Presidential race's social media video sharing activity. In a fun and engaging way, the display shows the number of shares each candidates' video content receives across blogs, Twitter and Facebook.

Not only is it interesting to see the number of shares (which are updated twice a day until election day) but the site also shows the most shared videos for each campaign. Some are funny, some are serious, some are not so nice.  But with over 10 million shares, it seems to me that social media will make a difference in who becomes our next President.

Check it out here.

Death By Twitter: KitchenAid Edition

 You don't make fun of someone's mom.
That's a given. And I'd argue the same goes for Grandmothers and other caregivers.

Well, KitchenAid broke that rule on a national scale when it tweeted an offensive statement towards President Obama during the Presidential Debate Wednesday night.

As Obama was relaying a story about his late grandmother, KitchenAid's 2400 followers were tweeted the following:
@KitchenAidUSA: "Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! 'She died 3 days b4 he became president."

Ouch. That's wrong no matter what your political view. Of course, KitchenAid has already issued an apology for this "irresponsible tweet", asthe company should. But it begs the continuing question of HOW things like this are still happening!?

According to Cynthia Soledad, head of KitchenAid, the tweet was posted by a member of its Twitter team who mistakenly used the KitchenAid handle instead of a personal handle. Big mistake.

Two main takeaways for everyone watching this gaffe unfold:
If You Tweet For A Company: DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING! Even triple check every tweet's handle before you post. Better yet, use different devices for different Twitter handles. These types of mix-ups happen frequently and, on this big of a scale, no mistake goes unseen.

If You Have People Who Tweet For Your Company: You have several choices here. Obviously you need to hold your Social Media teams to a high standard. But you also need to know that these errors happen. It could be wise to set up precautionary measures that may save you big in the long run. First, you could set up a protocol that calls for each tweet to be reviewed by another member of the team before it is posted. Another idea is to provide devices for your teams and only allow company Tweets to be sent from a company device. You also could establish accounts that delay a post for 4 minutes before it is officially tweeted. This could give the sender or a supervisor a moment to review even after the Tweet button has been pressed. Tweet4Me and TweetDeck both offer delay functions.

What do you do personally or professionally to control tweets?

Timing is still everything!

Earlier this year, I shared a bit with you guys about the best time to post to Twitter for clickthroughs.  Click  here to refresh your memory. 

This week, Mashable reported some data on timing of Facebook posts that we social media enthusiasts can try for ourselves to determine if timing really affects how many responses you get. 

But, first, a few tips I found insightful from the same Mashable data.  Granted, some of these seem gimmicky to me, but apparently stimulate a lot of interaction:

•  "Fill in the blank" posts garner 4x more comments than the average post.
• One of the best calls to action is "Caption This!", which gets 5.5x more comments than an average post.  
• Calls to action really motivate responses.  Commands such as "Like this!" "Caption this!" or "Share" get interaction rates almost 50% higher than average. 

Okay, now back to the timing issue.  Get this, the times reported for optimal interaction on Facebook are entirely different than those for Twitter.  The new data shows that weekends and non-peak hours are actually the best times for Facebook posts to generate interaction. So I am posting this today, Saturday, just to follow these new findings! This makes me curious... are these arbitrary numbers or do Twitter users and Facebook users really interact with postings on almost opposite timeframes?  

My guess is that the difference is more people spend time on Facebook on the weekends.  Digitally connecting with friends, making and sharing plans and Facebook stalking area ll great weekend activities.  And Twitter is a favorite of business, political and academic people who would more naturally tweet during the workday. 

How about you, do you interact with posts on Facebook at the same general times as you do with those on Twitter?  How, if at all, does your usage of the two sites differ?

Taking Twitter Too Far...#iDo!?

You all know how much I love tweeting.  I adore posting interesting information and getting tidbits throughout my day from those I follow.  However, even with my deep love of all things Twitter, this might be taking things too far.

NY Daily News reported last week that a couple in Turkey used Twitter to... wait for it... exchange wedding vows. 

Not even kidding here, folks.

Cengizhan Celik and his blushing bride Candan Canik used Twitter to say "I Do"!  Or, to be more accurate, "Evet" (Turkish for "Yes").

Maybe - I stress MAYBE - I would feel differently about this if the couple was separated across seas for work or family or other reasons.  But no!  They were next to eachother, tweeting on the same iPad!

I vote no.  What do you think?  Is this the new normal!?

Whats New With Klout & Why Justin Bieber Hates It!

Have you checked your KLOUT score lately?  This week, the influence-measurement site launched major changes to its platform.  The updates are all reflected in a new algorithm determining the almighty Klout score.  The new scores factor in more data points (now 12 million compared to the previous 1 million) and include your influence on Twitter, Google+, Foursquare, Facebook, LinkedIn, Klout (through +K's received) and, for the first time ever, real-world influence through Wikipedia. 

This Wikipedia element is what some celebrities are finding to be a Klout katastrophe!  Justin Bieber, previously the only person with a perfect 100 Klout Score, watched his score decrease by almost 10 points.  Why?  Bieber has such a huge and cult-like following on Twitter that his score was puffed up beyond his true influence.  Now that Wikipedia is factored into the mix, his score has been humbled to a more realistic (yet still quite impressive) number.  Sorry Biebs, but you are still doing pretty well!

Next step for Klout looks to be a News-Feed like stream they call "Moments".  Keep a look out for that and be sure to check in with me here at Social Media Diva to find out the latest once it goes public!

Has your Klout score changed?  What do you think of the updates?

The Haircut Heard Around The World

 Oh, the world of social media!  Isn't it quite ironic that the day after I post about using Social Media for the good of all mankind, THIS happens.

Yes, my friends.  It's another Celebrity Haircut Heard Around The World.

Not since the Britney Spears Head Shaving of 2007 have we heard this much commotion over a haircut.

This week, Miley Cyrus is sporting a new 'do.  

Quite drastic, yes.  But I think in the picture she looks very cute and spunky!

The real amazement is how the Twittersphere reacted!  Thousands of tweets about Miley's new tresses hit Twitter this week, bringing "Miley Cyrus" to Twitter Trending status for days.

The public really was against the haircut.  That is, until word got out that she donated her hair to cancer patients. 

Miley's defiantly positive attitude was apparent through her tweets; she let the world know that she was happy with her choice.

She gave to a great cause and she seems so happy with it!  I say Rock it Girl!! 

What do you think of the backlash on Miley's haircut?  

Social Media Diva Book Review!

Welcome to the first Social Media Diva book review!  

Today, I am reviewing the New York Times Bestseller: WE FIRST: HOW BRANDS AND CONSUMERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO BUILD A BETTER WORLD.  What a title, huh!?  Sounds like my kinda book!   But, you may ask, what’s with the 3 out of 5 star rating?  Well, I will tell you.  

1) Half the book is not even about social media!

Basically the entire first half of the book, or more, hardly touches on social media.  Maybe a brief whiff here or there, but the bulk is much more political and critical of the capitalist economic system.  Now, I am all for reading people's opinions on just about anything, but this felt like a bit of a bait and switch.  The title should give an accurate description of the content of the book.  I do not feel that this title does that.  

2) Hits readers over the head with word play.

I love puns.  I love words and jokes or clever nuances of playing with words.  But I don't love people forcing them into normal nomenclature.  Here, author Simon Mainwaring has coined "WE FIRST" (as opposed to "me first") as a type of thinking.  Great.  A fresh concept and I love it.  But he loves it so much that he can’t stop using it.   "The WE FIRST mentality is...."   "In WE FIRST businesses, they...."  "A WE FIRST nation will only...." He even goes so far as to coin ANOTHER term -- "wedia".  I'm not kidding.  This is a form of MEDIA that has WE FIRST thinking. We-dia.  Has anyone seen the movie MEAN GIRLS?  If so, you'll know the quote, "Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen, it's not going to happen".   I digress. 

3) Saves the best to last.

The good part is that when the book does FINALLY talk more specifics about social media, IT IS GREAT!  I had to wade through the entire book to finally uncover some real gems in the last few chapters. The writer loaded all his best thoughts, information, inspiration into the final chapters.   My favorite was Mainwaring's exploration into the idea of social gaming inspiring new platforms for economic change and aid in third world countries.  Originally, it sounds like a stretch to inspire the general public to go from building a farm on Farmville to one in a struggling nation.  However, Mainwaring neatly puts the pieces together to make a clear picture of how this could be the future of "Social Gaming For Good", and he makes me want to be part of it!

All in all, three stars is not that bad.  The book definitely is worth a read- but, if you are in it for just the social media goods, skip the first half and read the ending first – just like I do with a good mystery!