My goal is to make my website your one stop shop for election coverage.

What the Election Center will have:

1. Candidate profiles
2. Campaign money
3. Political positions
4. Links to website and outside sources (campaign websites, social media, etc.)
5. Ability to compare candidates and what they stand for

Thoughts?

In a Twitter blog post Twitter says,

“As we continue to grow internationally, we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression. Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there”¹.

In order for Twitter to be available in some of these countries they will have to censor Tweets. In the past to conform with countries with less freedom of expression rights Twitter would block the Tweet globally. The new plan would only censor the Tweet in the country that doesn’t want it displayed.

Twitter says they will alert users if a particular Tweet is being censored.

Do you think this a good idea for Twitter?

1. http://blog.twitter.com/2012/01/tweets-still-must-flow.html

First they’re going to have a single privacy policy instead of having one for each of their services. This idea of consolidation doesn’t just stop at their new privacy policy. It also continues for their whole user experience.

“Our new policy reflects our desire to create a simple product experience that does what you need, when you want it to”¹.

So this means their services will be working together to provide a single user experience. For example, if you plan meetings on Google Calendar, it will alert you based on your current location, traffic conditions from Google Maps that you will be on-time or late. Since all of this streamlined into one personal identity with Google, you’re viewing history, what you watch on YouTube can demonstrate a profile of what you like and don’t like.

This information is valuable to advertisers. By creating a single user profile of  viewing habits and activities using Google services, advertisers can purchase this information to direct specific personalized advertisements to users.

Here’s an example provided by NPR.com:

“Google…could surmise you are a basketball fan by all those YouTube videos you watch and then pair that with the Miami location you’ve set in Gmail. They would then serve ads for the Miami Heat”².

What do you think about this?

1. http://www.google.com/policies/
2. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/25/145830858/googles-new-privacy-policy-will-allow-tracking-across-services

Look at these stats:

• There are 250,000,000 Tweets per day¹
• 100,000,000+ active users on Twitter²
• There are more than 800 million active users on Facebook³
• Foursquare has around 15 million people worldwide⁴

Your company has the potential to reach there large amounts of people on multiple social media platforms. By utilizing this potential here are some tips to maximize social media experience for your customers:

• Personalize. Make each customer feel special and that you are addressing their questions or concerns. Imagine how you feel when you receive excellent service from a company.
• Stay true to your identity. Your imagine online should not contradict your imagine offline. Complement your online identity and offline identity by advertising and promoting services, products, and promotions. Engage in market research for your company by polling and asking questions about current or potential products or services.
• Listen and observe. People will talk about your service or product. Google search your company, product, or service and you’ll find a whole list of websites. You can also search social media websites to see what people are talking about on that platform. Engage, but also take some time to read what people are saying.

How are you maximizing your customer’s social media experience at your business?

1. http://business.twitter.com/basics/what-is-twitter/
2. http://business.twitter.com/basics/what-is-twitter/
3. https://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
4. https://foursquare.com/about/

“Article II, Sec. 3, of the U.S. Constitution requires that, ‘The President shall from time to time give to Congress information of the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.’((http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/thepresidentandcabinet/a/souhistory.htm))

What Twitter is saying

What are your reactions and comments? Let me know your thoughts.

Here are some lessons I have learned:

• Take a moment before clicking the publish button – no matter what the platform.
• Use multiple sources and consult others in the newsroom.
• Being first doesn’t mean it’s right. If you’re first and get it right then it’s like hitting the lottery; however, if you’re first and wrong, you look really bad.
• Your reporting matters to people, no matter the story. You could be doing a feature on a local shop, but how you report the story matters. The business owner wants to see how you’re telling their story. They have an investment in the story because it’s their business you’re reporting on.
• Social Media is both an excellent and harsh journalism tool. Similar to point two, you could use it to share information quickly with a lot of people but make sure that information is correct.
• We’re human and we all make mistakes. Revert to point one and two before publishing – no matter what the story is.

What are your thoughts? Would you rather news organizations get potentially false information out and be the first to report or wait?

Both are working through Congress.

Check them out:

Our identities are important to us in the offline world. We tell a story about ourselves by the clothing we wear, the media we consume, and the beverages we consume.

We carry similar identities online through personal websites, blogs, and social media.  I believe our online identities are much harder to control because we have a sense of less boundaries. Think about personal situations where you wouldn’t share particular information in person but you did online.

That’s why managing our online reputation is important.

• Be careful what you post. Pause before you click publish or post a comment. Just because you delete a comment off Facebook or a blog doesn’t mean it’s not still lurking out there. Most of the stuff we do online is archived on servers. My rule of thumb is if you wouldn’t tell a young child what you’re about to post – it probably doesn’t belong out there.
• Set the rules. Many websites have rules and regulations or terms of service information that tells visitors and members what is accepted on the website. Do not be afraid to set boundaries on your personal profiles and websites on what type of content you will accept. The less ambiguous the rules are, the less confusion later.
• Tip: Be careful when moderating comments for your blogs and websites. If you moderate comments before they are posted to your blog or website you approve the content of the message  - when that may not be the case.
• Search your name or company’s name. Get an idea of what’s out there. If someone like a potential employer were to search your name what would they find? While many companies have tools to work around privacy settings – what can the general public see? Take note on the websites that show up on the first page – how do they represent you?

How do you manage your online reputation?

“More people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.”

The data:

Source of Information: http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/15SNAPpartPP.htm

From  2007 to 2011 there was a 58.8 percent increase in the average of monthly participants (persons) in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Here is a state-by-state breakdown of average monthly participation (persons).

For example, in my home state of New Jersey in 2007 – 414,503 persons were enrolled in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and in 2011 759,136 were enrolled. That’s a 56.4 percent increase over 4 years.

One of the reasons, according to Politifact.com, is the recession.

Politifact states:

“Much of the reason for the increase was a combination of the economic problems Obama inherited combined with a longstanding upward trend from policy changes. But Obama has supported those policies.”¹

What do you think?

1. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jan/17/newt-gingrich/newt-gingrich-says-more-people-have-been-put-food-/

What if you used videos to generate more revenue, traffic, and/or awareness?

Whether you have a large audience base or a small one, your company should be using videos to tell your company story, products, and services.

Using videos will allow you to do the following:

• Reach new audience members
• Target specific audience members through personalized video messages
• Demonstrate what your product, service, or company does
• Instructional videos on how your product or service works

Modern technology allows you to create video efficiently and under budget. While professional videographers can provide more advanced video production it doesn’t mean you must use them to provide quality and informative videos for your company.