Tag Archive: Twitter

Social media: driving up award show ratings?

Written on March 12, 2010 by Stephanie in Facebook, Twitter, celebrity, news, social media
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Photo credit: Oscar.com

More than 41.3 million people tuned in to the Academy Awards Sunday night, despite advance media coverage calling the Oscar race predictable (and laying all the gold statuettes at the big blue feet of Avatar).  That’s the biggest audience since 2005. (Million Dollar Baby was the big winner that night.)

So the Oscar audience was up. Know what else?

  • The Golden Globe Awards were up 14% from the previous year.
  • The People’s Choice Awards were up 15%.
  • The Grammy Awards were up 35.8% over last year.

It’s not just awards shows. The 2010 Super Bowl garnered 106 million viewers — becoming the most-watched event in TV history. While this article quotes media experts saying the bad economy keeps more people at home and the productions have gotten better, I don’t think that has changed viewership.

While television executives have blamed the internet for fragmenting audiences, I think the internet plus laptops plus smartphones is bringing them together. Hello! Social media.  We’re connecting via portable technology.

A few years ago we put our big clunky computer desktops in a spare bedroom or a home office — a room that usually didn’t have a television. But now we’re surfing and tweeting and facebooking on our laptops or BlackBerries or iPhones in our living rooms, dens or bedrooms and it’s like being at an Oscar party, a Grammy party or a Super Bowl party.

You want to hear what your snarky friend is saying about SJP’s hair or gown, or praise Jeff Bridges’ heartfelt, yet groovy, man speech. You might have tweeted “Imma let you finish” when that redhaired woman pulled a Kanye during  the Music by Prudence documentary producer’s speech. (Turns out she produced it too.) And you might even admit that you both laughed and got a little misty during Sandra Bullock’s acceptance speech.

I did. I tweeted during many of these shows and talked about the rest of them on Facebook.  I’ve watched these shows in years past –sometimes they were on in the background while I put together an 11pm newscast that followed. (What do you MEAN the show is running over?!!!)  Other times, before kids, I had seen several nominated movies and wondered why I hadn’t seen the others — so I tuned in to see what video I should rent in the future.  (Side note: as a mom with two daughters, I can accurately predict the animated feature winner every year, having seen the entire category and then some. The one year I got it wrong: Happy Feet.)

So I suggest this pop culture crowdsourcing is driving up awards show ratings. In an age when we feel comfortable talking about every little opinion on Twitter or Facebook, check in to be the mayor of our local Starbucks on Foursquare or write blog posts like this one, being a part of the conversation in real time is almost as good as being at a party or the event itself.

Do you find yourself watching an awards show, or even your favorite series logged in to your favorite social media site to chat about the program? Do you think it’s just the bad economy keeping people glued to their TVs? Or have the productions become better? (Seriously? I mean, there was an homage to horror movies during the Academy Awards this year people!)

Tell me what you think is driving up ratings. I’d love to chat with you about it. Until Grey’s Anatomy comes on and then I’m talking about Bailey’s big date.

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How to follow a Twitter chat

Written on November 23, 2009 by Stephanie in PR, Technology; twitter, Uncategorized, public relations, tips
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woman at computerHave you ever walked into a room where everyone was talking, engaged in an activity and it seems like everyone knows what’s going on but you? Now imagine they’re talking 90 miles a minute. That’s what attending your first Twitter chat can feel like.

The best way to follow a chat in Twitter is to use a client like Tweetgrid, HootSuite, Tweetdeck or Tweetchat. I’ve found it easiest to follow a chat if I do a search for the hashtag the chat is using, the moderator’s twitter stream, @ replies to my name for starters. I have consistently had the most luck with Tweetgrid, and I recently learned it was developed in my home state of North Carolina — so I’m recommending it to you. One more cool thing about Tweetgrid: you enter the hashtag of your chat and Tweetgrid adds it to all your tweets so you don’t have to re-enter it and the character counter includes it so you don’t go over 140 characters. Here’s a peek at one setup I use a lot.

Using Tweetgrid for #journchat

Using Tweetgrid for #journchat

Now that you’ve seen how I keep up with a chat, here are some tips for participating without annoying regular chatters:

1. Check the moderator’s Twitter stream for preliminary information about how to join in.
Sometimes this is in the steam, sometimes there’s a link to a place where you can read some basic rules about how this chat likes its members to participate.

2.  Retweet the moderator’s questions to give everyone participating a chance to see them.
Depending on the speed of the Twitter client other folks are using, they may be answering questions 1 and 2 while your moderator is on 3 or 4. Retweeting the question helps pass along the information.

3. Use Q1, Q2, Q3 etc., when you are answering the question.
Example: Q2 No, the press release isn’t dead, but needs to be rethought.

4. Watch your character count.
If your answers are less than 140 characters, they are easy for fellow chat participants to retweet  without changing or with adding a quick comment. Aim to leave 10-15 characters free if you can.

5. When you see a good answer, go ahead and retweet it. Even if you don’t agree with it.
You can mention that you agree, disagree, or spit out your Diet Coke when you read it. Retweeting a comment is a great way to further the dialogue and keep the conversation going.

6. We don’t have to all agree, but we do need to respect other opinions.
There can be some good dialogue going on, but remember it’s a conversation and not an argument.

7. Follow people you find interesting or retweet.
It’s a great way to find new tweeps with a provocative point of view. And if you happen to be pithy and find a lot of new followers after a chat because of your comments, you can follow back, thank them or just engage in a conversation with the new folks you meet.

There are chats ranging from interest in journalism/PR to small businesses, to blogging to personal finances. Meryl K. Evans (@merylkevans) started a list on her blog that has since become a Google spreadsheet updated by many folks. Find a chat you might be interested and mark your calendar. Remember, the comments fly by quickly, and you might need a little practice before you keep up. If you  need more time, you can always perform a search using the hashtag after the event to read the comments at your leisure.

For those of you who are old pros at Twitter chats, what advice would you add?

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The Power of PR and Twitter

Written on September 28, 2009 by Stephanie in PR, Technology; twitter, public relations, social media
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Valeria Maltoni, whose blog Conversation Agent I’ve been following for a few months, posted a list of 100 PR people using Twitter she recommends because they’re helpful. You may recognize a few names, but you probably won’t recognize them all.
Not everyone likes a list like this, but I figure if someone’s gone to the trouble to compile a list, filled with links, that explains the person’s background a little, it’s worth checking out.

As I clicked through the list, checking people out, I found that some people I thought I’d been following had dropped off my Twitter profile. There were some hiccups months ago with people being added and deleted accidentally all over Twitter.
So this list not only allowed me to find some new PR colleagues to follow, but to re-follow people I thought I’d been following in the first place. You follow?

Is there anyone you’d add to the list?

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How to "get" Twitter

Written on September 27, 2009 by Stephanie in Technology; twitter, Uncategorized, public relations, social media, word of mouth
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Twitter's new home page is designed to help newbies figure out the microblogging service.

Twitter's new home page is designed to help newbies figure out the microblogging service.

You’ve probably heard someone say they don’t “get” Twitter. I hear that a lot, especially since I’m pretty active on Twitter and I tell all my colleagues and people I meet about it. I understand the confusion. It can be a lot like attending a huge party, solo, where you don’t know a soul. Everyone’s talking, they’re in a conversation. You could feel overwhelmed. Shy. Not sure which conversation to join, or even if there is a conversation out there that addresses your passion.

So use that party analogy to get your feet wet. You wouldn’t bust into the party and start shouting at the top of your lungs about your company, your product, your newscast, your blog or your children’s accomplishments, right? You’d probably walk around the room, smile on your face, looking for an opportunity to talk about something that interests you, meet some new people, maybe by starting with your neighbor at the bar or buffet line.

So here are some ideas for getting your conversation started on Twitter:

1. Listen. Use the Twitter search tools (there’s a search box right on the home page) to find conversations regarding topics you’re passionate about. You can search with a keyword to start with, like books, public relations, marketing, or health care. You can also search for Twitter users to follow by using sites like Twellow (a yellow pages-type listing), Twitter Grader or by checking out the people your Twitter friends are following. There are even sites that lists journalists who use Twitter, which is handy for my public relations colleagues.

2. Talk transparently. Be human and honest about what you are doing and who you represent. You don’t get all dressed up in a costume to go to the grocery store — you’re yourself there. Be yourself on Twitter.

3. Remember that Twitter is not a broadcast channel for your company, your blog posts or your personal branding efforts. You should be passing along good information that everyone can use. For every one Tweet about your branding/your company/your blog, you should be passing along 4-5 other Tweets about interesting information, responding to other people’s Tweets and otherwise genuinely conversing. I’ve seen some recommend a 10:1 ratio,  others say 80/20% or even 30/30/30.

As they say in Pirates of the Caribbean about the Pirate Code … “They’re more of a guideline, really”. So jump in the Twitter pool. The water’s fine. We’re starting a game of Marco Polo in a few minutes and you’re invited.

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