Monthly Archives: May 2009

SoMe 101 at WAW: Ashton Kutcher

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One of the attendees at the WAW SoMe 101 workshop last Wednesday mentioned Ashton Kutcher on Twitter. I exclaimed, “Oh I hate that guy!” [Note: Yes, that was quite unprofessional of me. I apologize for my outburst.] We all laughed, she asked why, and I said I’d tell them if we had time.

So here’s some time and my thoughts and perceptions on Ashton Kutcher and his presence on Twitter.

First, I don’t like him as an actor. (I know, that wasn’t part of it.) I’m already biased. I said it. From this point, it is up to you if you want to read about the rest of my dislike.

Second, when he started his Twitter account, I believe the news hype was that he was going to challenge CNN to a race. He bet that he could get 1,000,000 followers before CNN. He would give his 1,000,000th follwer a copy of “Guitar Hero.” (Dude, you’re a gazillionaire. You’re going to donate one measly game?) Twitter isn’t a game of who has the most followers. It’s about creating dialogue: top to bottom, bottom to top, side to side, and diagonally.

I find it irritating that he plays this card of “Oh I can talk to my fans directly. It’s the democratization of media.” Guess what, Kutcher? You are still perpetuating the top-down model of communication from Web 1.0. Here is this guy who’s already famous, a celebrity, and he is sending messages out to the world. Followers reply back to him, but he rarely replies back. How is this a dialogue? It’s not. It’s more top-down messaging and the antithesis of the democratization of media.

In a sense then, Kutcher is at the top of the communication pyramid and we are all still at the bottom.

Thanks, man, for keeping us down. (I’m being sarcastic.)

Articles of note, or people who can write better than me and have the same reaction:

Hey Twitter, Keep the Shades Off – http://news.cnet.com/hey-twitter-keep-the-shades-off/

Everything Old is New Again (Marketing Profs) – http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/04/sheeple_everything_old_is_new.html

The Real Meaning of Ashton Kutcher’s 1M Twitter Followers (AdAge) – http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=136049

New look coming soon

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While I do like the layout of this website, I tend to gravitate toward three columns. In the next few months, you might be seeing a different layout.

work in progress!

Also, as you can see, I have not finished adding all my favorite LINKS on the right-side column. There’s more than one SoMe link that I love. Though Mashable comes in at #1.

Here are a few projects I’m working on:

  • Streamlining communications for a local chapter of medical professionals
  • Revamping the chapter’s website to make it more dynamic
  • Answering some of the questions that were brought up at last Wed’s Intro to Social Media workshop
  • Working on a business plan for a colleague’s new animal welfare organization – stay tuned!
  • and of course, Volunteering at WAW

Thank you, WAW SoMe 101 attendees!

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Thank you so much, Women at Work attendees! I had a lot of fun teaching the Intro To Social Media workshop at WAW. I’ve just about lost my voice!

You all had such great questions and shared personal experiences with these SoMe tools. I appreciate your candor very much. I hope that the workshop helped clear up a few issues regarding the social media “universe.”

There were many questions that were posed about LinkedIn privacy settings and Facebook settings in general. In the next few days, I’ll be posting my thoughts (and hopefully, some answers) for you. A couple of you asked for the PPT presentation – please let me edit the presentation and I’ll post it as a .pdf file on this website. I’ll also email the final PPT to Kristy for WAW’s files. (I only ask that you give credit where credit is due, and attribute my work.)

In the meantime, I just want to thank everyone who attended this evening’s workshop. (Next time, I’ll try to slow down and take in some oxygen.) <G>

Social Media 101 at WAW

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Things are getting exciting! Kristy from Women At Work just called to tell me that they’ve been turning people away for my social media workshop next week. Whoa! So, to accommodate as many people as possible, we’ll be moving the workshop from the computer lab (hands-on) to the conference room.

Alas, I’m revising my PPT to reflect the changes. I’ve yet to create a 1-page handout, but rest assured, I will. I do appreciate it when I have a take-away when I go to workshops and conferences. Better still, I’ll be posting that doc on this site so that you can download it.