Should you like your own Facebook posts?

In December 2009 I wrote a post asking the same question. It remains one of the biggest traffic drivers to this site, according to Google Analytics.

Should you or shouldn’t you?

Almost 2-1/2 years have passed, and here’s where we are when it comes to Facebook.

Facebook tends to be a social network of people whom you already know, depending on your strategy for adding new friends.

When you comment or like someone on Facebook, it has a better chance to show up in your network’s news feed. So if you want to give your post a boost, then you might Like it.

Others may perceive this as narcissistic. If you care about what others think of you, then you may not want to give your own words that thumbs up. If you don’t really care, then do it.

Or you could comment on the post to clarify or add to the conversation. In my opinion, this comes across as more natural.

Different for Individuals vs Brands/pages?

I don’t think this matters as much for individuals as it might for brands. If you as a page post something and then like that post as the page, because you’re a non-human entity, that may further be perceived as egotistical.

I’m not the expert

I’m not a social media expert on this sort of thing, and I have no concrete data as to whether Liking your own Facebook posts has any effect on overall engagement or not. In my opinion, there are much more important things in life to be thinking about.

What about you? What do you think?

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I’m teaching a class on Interpersonal Communications this term at Antonelli College. It’s designed to reinforce and expand interpersonal communication as it relates to having a successful business in the world today. The context for the course encompasses psychological, relational, situational, environmental, and cultural communication. We’re learning how interactions and reactions have a direct connection in the professional setting.

The textbook, which we got from Cengage, called IPC.

Each week I assign for homework a journal entry about something we cover in class. I don’t require that they share it publicly since that may mean they choose not to be as vulnerable as they could be.

I also mentioned that I’m doing the homework along with my students, but I’m doing it here on this blog. As always, you’re welcome to join in the discussion.

Openness to other cultures and worldviews

In class this week, we talked about how culture and worldview affects us in our interpersonal communication.

How can you be more open to other cultures and world views?

Neighborhoods in the Greater Cincinnati area are organized so that residents don’t really need to leave in order to shop for basic necessities like groceries. This is especially true if you’re limited in transportation. Aside from work you probably don’t have even to leave your neighborhood.

The culture on the West side of Cincinnati is different from that on the East side. In 1990 after the Berlin Wall fell in Germany, Cincinnati Enquirer politicial cartoonist Jim Borgman did a about an “East-West Wall” that exists in Cincinnati. It’s among his personal favorites, and you can see the first in the series among the Borgman’s favorites page.

This isolationist perspective also extends to my country as a whole. Like it or not, many Americans like me grow up at some level thinking that the world revolves around the United States of America.

So when I think about how to expand my culture and worldview, I recognize that I need to get out of my neighborhood more often. Get over to the other side of town and see what’s going on over there. Get downtown more often. Get across the river into Northern Kentucky.

Moreover, it’s become more important for me to read and watch news from outside Cincinnati, Ohio and outside of the United States. One of the local PBS stations shows world news, and I’ve found myself lately following it. Hearing reporters talk about the United States as an outsider helps me appreciate that perspective more.

Finally, I’m thankful to be a part of one of the most culturally diverse churches in the Greater Cincinnati area. Spending time in this congregation makes it easy for me to see White, Black, Hispanic, African, Russian, Arabic, and other cultures together.

Interpersonal Communications Series

• Week 1 – Communication apprehension
• Week 2 – Misconceptions of others
• Week 3- Openness to other cultures and worldviews

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These five words are some of the most common I ask in emails lately. Like anything done with repetition, it could be easy for them to lose their meaning.

But I’m serious.

How Can I Help You?

At your service (Photo credit: Cathdew)

You’re reading this now because you’re a regular reader, because you found it through searching for something, or because someone referred you here.

I write about things I’m interested in writing about, but I’m definitely interested in what you’d like to find.

Leave a comment below or contact me directly.

No one cares more about your cause more than you.

When I first got started as a community manager, this was one lesson I had to learn quickly. I often wondered why it felt like I was the only who cared about putting together a networking group and online community management framework.

Even now, many years into it, I’m extremely grateful for all the volunteers who put their time and effort into helping make the group work.

Some would love to do more if only asked. Others cannot.

Especially as volunteers in a community, everyone plays at their own level of commitment and involvement.

Be respectful of that fact.

Level Up letterpress (Photo credit: artnoose)

Last week I mentioned I’m teaching a class on Interpersonal Communications this term at Antonelli College. It’s designed to reinforce and expand interpersonal communication as it relates to having a successful business in the world today. The context for the course encompasses psychological, relational, situational, environmental, and cultural communication. We’re learning how interactions and reactions have a direct connection in the professional setting.

The textbook, which we got from Cengage, called IPC.

Interpersonal Communications Series – Week 2

Each week I assign for homework a journal entry about something we cover in class. I don’t require that they share it publicly since that may mean they choose not to be as vulnerable as they could be.

I also mentioned that I’m doing the homework along with my students, but I’m doing it here on this blog.

You’re free to join in the discussion, if you’d like.

Misconceptions others have about you

What are some of the misconceptions you believe others have about you?

This is a tricky question, when I consider it in the context of what we learned in Chapter 2, Communication, Perception, and the Self. The main theme is that we cannot always trust our perceptions. This means not only that others have misconceptions about me, but also I have misconceptions about their misconceptions about me.

Right?

All is rosy

I think one of the biggest misconceptions others have about me is that everything is great in my world. I don’t like making my circumstances be the most interesting thing about me, so I try to put on a good face.

It’s a dangerous thing.

Last fall, in a post entitled “Open Up and Get Real,” I wrote:

Whatever we say online builds the brand, the reputation, that others who pay attention to us see. We have a tremendous ability to influence that across so many different channels. It’s become easy to paint a picture that things are rosy, when in all likelihood they might not be.

Online and offline, you form opinions about me based on your interactions with me. It’s what personal branding is about.

I’m influencing your perceptions by what I publish online for you to see.
I’m influencing your perceptions by how I try to present myself when we meet in-person.

All is not so rosy

So I’ll be honest.

I’m going through some harrowing circumstances right now, yet I’m not convinced that this forum is a good place to share what those are. Even now, as I write this, I’m struggling with exactly how much to share. I don’t like my circumstances being the most interesting thing about me.

Feel free to reach out privately if you’d like to know more.

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I’m teaching a class on Interpersonal Communications this term at Antonelli College. It’s designed to reinforce and expand interpersonal communication as it relates to having a successful business in the world today. The context for the course encompasses psychological, relational, situational, environmental, and cultural communication. We’re learning how interactions and reactions have a direct connection in the professional setting.

The communications junkie in me LOVES this class!

I really love the textbook, which we got from Cengage, called IPC.

Interpersonal Communications Series

Each week I assign a journal entry on something related to what we’ve discussed in class. Originally, I was going to require that students email me their journal entry. After talking about it with my peers, I decided not to require them to email me their entry because it may lead to them not being as open and vulnerable in what they write. All I do is have them show that they did it, and they get credit for the work.

I’m doing the assignments, too. But I’m going to post mine to this blog in an Interpersonal Communications series. I invite you to join in the discussion, if you’d like.

Week 1

With whom do you communicate best and worst in a one-on-one situation? Why?

In one-on-one situations, I tend to communicate best with those whom I naturally feel close to. We already have some type of history together and can build on our shared field of experience. When it’s hard to find that shared field of experience with someone, I find it harder to communicate with them.

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It was January 2002. I had some down time on a project at work and was given permission to do some outside stuff. So I signed up and started my first blog, entitled Journey Inside My Mind. I later spun that blog off to a few more niche sites; among them were QuotesBlog and Get That Job!

I’ve launched other blogs and have put several up on the shelf over the years. I migrated many of my sites from Blogger’s Blogspot platform to WordPress.

One thing I’ve noticed in myself and others, especially as sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus have become more popular, is that we’re not blogging as much as we might have in earlier times.

I don’t think this is entirely a good thing. No, not at all.

Why aren’t you blogging more?

I cannot speak for you, so I’ll speak for myself.

Feedback-loop-general (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a blogger one thing I’ve always craved is feedback from others. Even when I was podcasting much more frequently some years ago. We always wanted to know that what we created wasn’t sent out into some void that no one paid attention to. Social networking sites provide that feedback, even if it is only a Like, a Reply, a Retweet, a +1 or something else. My circle of connections is defined, and they more readily know when I’ve done something on those platforms. So it’s easy to post there.

But a question like the one posed in this post begs another: why blog at all?

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Let’s get this out of the way:

Lock your doors via vshioshvii from Flickr

I have not, nor will I ever give my social networking credentials to a prospective employer. What I have already made public is good enough.

If you’re looking to hire me and one of the conditions of employment are that I hand over my login credentials to Facebook, Google Plus, LinkedIn, or any other social media platform, then we’re not a good fit for one another. That may mean that, all other things being equal, we’re both missing out on doing some great work together.

If people don’t buy what you do – they buy why you do it, then what does the practice of asking potential employees for their Facebook passwords say about why you do what you do? No, in this case your WHY and mine do not align, and we’re not going to work together.

Unless.

Unless you’re willing to better understand how these platforms really work. Section 4 of Facebook’s Terms of Service, for example, says:

Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way.

Among the commitments users make to them relating to registering and maintaining the security of your account include what is found in item 8 on the list:

You will not share your password, (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.

So if you’re in business and someone has suggested this as a way of vetting candidates, then you should seriously reconsider. Seriously.

You wouldn’t want a candidate to ask to see what goes on in your home as a condition of working with you either.

Hat-tip to my friend Michelle Beckham, whose post inspired this one.

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Do you have a PIMP list? I do.

Asking this question raises a number of eyebrows, because of what we often think of when we see the word PIMP. It doesn’t mean what you think it might (or maybe it does?).

For a few years now, I’ve occasionally mentioned on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere that I have a PIMP list. Some have seen themselves on my Facebook PIMP list and have wondered if that’s a good thing or not. I’ve needed to write a blog post to explain what it is.

This is that blog post. (Finally!)

How we build relationships

PIMP relates to building relationships and is part of my own social media strategy and social media management. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and other social media tools make up the digital neighborhood of the 21st century.

Having a PIMP list is a useful way to measure the depth of those relationships. We don’t know our neighbors, but we spend hours at a time online with other “friends” (I use that term in quotes because we know not all “friends” are really Friends.). If you’re using Google Plus, then you know about putting contacts into circles.  We’ve all done this in some way, either subconsciously or consciously.

Some examples…

As I’ve used Twitter and other social media networking tools over the years, I’ve enjoyed several moments when I’ve finally met someone in-person whom I’ve only known online. Here are a few examples:

• I can still remember the first time I met Rich Palmer at the Tim Horton’s on Miller Lane in Dayton in 2006. I’d been listening to his Audio Gumshoe podcast for about a year, and it was great to have finally made the connection in-person. I believe those times we’ve spent time together since then have strengthened the relationship that originated online from an independent band and some mishaps I’d had with fire. Long story.
• I also remember meeting Jim Farley the first time at the Panera on Miller Lane in Dayton. I’d known Jim through hearing his music on other podcasts like Ed’s Mixed Bag and Adam Curry‘s Daily Source Code.
• The first time I ever met Cliff Ravenscraft in person was at the very first New Media Cincinnati meetup in October 2007. I’d connected with him via Twitter and Facebook, and had even gotten to chat with him through Skype beforehand. But it was the in-person meeting and others since then that have brought the relationship deeper.
• I remember getting to meet Bryan Person for the first time as he was driving through Cincinnati on his move from Boston to Austin. That very small, impromptu Social Media Breakfast at the First Watch in downtown Cincinnati was definitely worth the wait.
• Last October, at the first ever PodCamp Cincinnati, I finally got to meet John Blue from Truffle Media, whose name and voice I’ve often heard on the Marketing Over Coffee podcast.

The list goes on and on.  Every month when we meet together, in-person, for New Media Cincinnati or some other tweetup or social media event in Cincinnati or elsewhere, we take the online conversations offline.  Because of the connectedness the social networking tools provide us, we just pick up the conversations where we left off.  And when we leave the in-person meeting, we pick up the conversations online again.

What is a PIMP list? Is this really a good thing?

I hope you are not taken aback by this concept of a PIMP list.  Tweetdeck, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and others let you organize people we connect with into different lists – circles, if you’re using Google Plus. These mechanisms let you filter conversations and make your use of the tools more relevant to you.

Over time I’ve changed how I use lists. On Twitter, for example, I have an “All Friends” list, a “Must Read” list, a “Clients” list, and a “Local Folks” list. Similarly, on Google Plus I’ve got a Cincinnati circle, a Podcasters circle, and a Gaming circle.

But I also have a PIMP list and a PIMP circle. I use these to show the progress I’m making toward taking those online connections into the real world.

PIMP: People I’ve Met Personally.  I look forward, if we haven’t already, to adding you there.

Your turn…

Do you have any lists or Google Plus circles like this? What are your strategies for managing contacts on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus? I’d love to hear what you’re doing to manager your relationships on these platforms.

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What does jazz have anything to do with social media, digital marketing, and helping stories get told, you ask?

Improvisation.

Improvisation (or The time of a note...) (Photo credit: ePi.Longo)

Consider these quotations I borrowed from Lukasz Langa‘s DailyImprov.net:

In 1968 I ran into Steve Lacy on the street in Rome. I took out my pocket tape recorder and asked him to describe in fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation. He answered: “In fifteen seconds the difference between composition and improvisation is that in composition you have all the time you want to decide what to say in fifteen seconds, while in improvisation you have fifteen seconds.” His answer lasted exactly fifteen seconds. – Frederic Rzewski

Even if you’re improvising, the fact that beforehand you know certain things will work helps you make those improvisations successful. It really helps to have a certain amount of knowledge about musical structure. — John Cale

Sometimes it works, sometimes it fails, but that’s what we face when we’re dealing with improvisation. — Jan Garbarek

Story

A couple weeks’ ago I’m on a project helping with sound and media for a church function. I’d heard that there was a video the team would want played. Not a problem, I’m thinking. What typically happens is that we get the video burned onto a DVD or some other media. It’s easy to bring it right into the MediaSHOUT software we use.

MediaSHOUT is a phenomenal software program that lets you show graphics, video, flash animations, Bible verses, and even PowerPoint presentations. Most of the time, this is done with a script file that contains all the content to be shown during the program.

The system we use doesn’t have PowerPoint installed, so we just use a PowerPoint viewer. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past six years learning more about what we can use it for, and I’m definitely impressed.

One thing the PowerPoint viewer does not do is play PPS files, PowerPoint Show files that contain timed slides and music behind them. I mention this because when I arrive at the building to help with sound and media, I learn that this is what the “video” is. Gulp.

The show must go on.

With less than 30 minutes before the event was to begin, I start thinking of different options to make this work. I’m in the business of helping stories be told, and I’m determined to find a way to make this work.

I search online for utilities that could convert a PPS to a WMV and even install one on my laptop. Can’t get it to work. Then I remember that MediaSHOUT can play audio behind graphic cues. So I ask the woman who prepared the PPS for graphic images of her slides and begin to set up the timings.

Unfortunately at this point I realize I don’t know enough about how to add audio cues to slides, so I abandon that option. I then decide that the best course of action in these circumstances is to disconnect the projection system from the MediaSHOUT computer and hook it to the woman’s laptop to play the show directly from her machine.

It’s not seamless as we would like it to be, but it gets the job done.

Fast forward to last night. I’m back at the MediaSHOUT system, and I remember what had happened. So I look up how sound cues and sound cue controls work. After testing them out, I finally know how to make this option work – not just for the situation that came up a couple weeks’ ago, but for any other use.

Like jazz – indeed.

Another quote from DailyImprov.net:

Research on jazz musicians shows that people don’t just pull stuff out of the air when they’re improvising. These are people with an extremely wide knowledge of musical genres. They have always practiced and practiced and practiced. – Kathleen Tierney

My example is one of many, and it doesn’t really explicitly involve social media as much as it does communication, media production, and passion and drive to figure out how to make something happen.

Get training, take classes as you can. Training is definitely useful.  So is the energy, zeal, and determination to just figure things out on your own so that you can know which tool is needed for the situations that arise.

In other words, you’re ready to improvise.

Watch Bobby McFerrin talk about Improvisation

Your turn

What do you think? Does any of this make sense? What else would you add to this analogy?

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