Let me say this up front – well, reiterate something I’ve said a number of times before:

Your use of social media will vary… and that’s okay. Everyone has his or her own level of comfortability with interacting online and how they approach making connections.  In this post, I’ll share my current approach, with respect to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Connecting is easy

In 2002 I found myself in a job search. I knew that I needed to meet other people as I weaved my way toward the next phase of my career.  I began looking in newspapers for local networking groups or professional organizations where I might be able to meet together. It was frustrating because it wasn’t easy to connect with people in these groups.

LinkedIn

Then came my first LinkedIn invitation, somewhere around 2003 – through someone who had been a contributor to my Get That Job! blog. I started making connections online through LinkedIn, often re-connecting with old colleagues and people I’d known from other circles.  That’s actually one of the beautiful things about being able to find people you know when making online connections, isn’t it?

Twitter

I signed up for Twitter in 2006 when it was still a mere side project. One of the neat things to do was to connect with people I’d known from podcasting circles and elsewhere. It was yet another touchpoint for our online connection. My initial approach also was to connect with as many people as possible in the Greater Cincinnati area (where I live) and the Greater Dayton area (where I worked). More on that in just a moment.

Facebook

I joined Facebook in 2007 and have been able to reconnect with a number of old colleagues and former classmates. I’ve also connected with people I’ve known from various circles on Twitter, podcasting, church, etc.

Changing Strategies

One of  the nice things about Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn is that it’s possible to group connections into one or more lists, which lets you filter your update streams as you wish.

Over the years my strategy in using LinkedIn has changed. Same with Facebook and Twitter.  I’ll still connect with you when you send me a LinkedIn connection request, provided that you are more creative than the “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn” or “Since you are a person I trust, I’d like to add you to my professional network.”  Please be a bit more creative than this and let me know how we might know one another. Or, just let me know you’re a human being behind the account. Or, send a follow-up message to introduce yourself.

Facebook is a little bit different. I used to connect with anyone who sent me a connection request. Then one day, as Facebook’s privacy settings had changed yet again, I re-evaluated whom I was connected to, how well I knew them, and wound up removing a number of “Facebook friends”. Similar to LinkedIn, if you want to connect with me, include a message how we might know one another.

My strategy in using Twitter has also changed over the years. I turned off the email notifications that someone had begun following me on Twitter. Now, if you start following me, I might never know, unless you do an @danieljohnsonjr to mention me. I just don’t have time any more to keep up with everything.

What happens next is what really matters

Once we get connected, then what? The big reason I’ve wanted to especially connect with those in the Greater Cincinnati area is because I’m interested in meeting you in person. We are only able to glean a small part of one another’s lives from what we see online.

Maybe you’re different. Maybe you share every single thing you’re doing online. I’m not that way.

Once we’re connected, there should be more that we do than just have a connection. When you connect with me on LinkedIn, I typically send a message, thanking you for the connection and asking how I can help you. I’ll also share something that I’m looking for so that you’ll know how you might be able to help me.

Connect with everybody – recommend only those you truly know.

What is a recommendation? It’s a statement that adds credibility to work you’ve done.  If I recommend you, that means I’m vouching for work you’ve done in the past.  So, if we’ve just connected on LinkedIn, and we don’t already know each other beforehand, it’s probably not a good idea to request a recommendation.  Unless you know me or the work I’ve done, I don’t think your recommendation will add much.

Now, let’s say we get to know each other well online and through one another’s work. Then we might be able to recommend one another on that basis.

What do you think about all of this? What are your personal strategies for using LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter?

Connecting is easy – it’s what happens next that matters.

Possible related articles

• LinkedIn power tip: your headline (getthatjobonline.com)
• Where Job Seekers Should Be Online (money.usnews.com)
• Why LinkedIn is More Valuable than Facebook (blogs.forbes.com)
• Want To Make Your Profile Interesting? Try The InMap! (globalthoughtz.com)
• So, I’m on LinkedIn. Now what? (theglobeandmail.com)
• SIMPLIFY Your Social Media Communications, especially for LinkedIn Users (rocktheworldbook.com)

I recently spoke to the Scarlet Oaks Return To Work Resource Center about how to use social media in the job search. When I mentioned Twitter, I emphasized its ability to connect with others who share similar passions, interests, and experience. Then I pulled up the Twitter Chat Schedule.

Twitter Chats – There are many!

Twitter is like that water cooler at the workplace, where we get to share short tidbits of information: useful and sometimes random. And we get to do this with people from all around the world, not just in our local community! Through the use of hashtags to contextualize Twitter updates, it’s possible to have a Twitter Chat, in 140 characters at a time.

Twitter Chat Schedule

This sort of thing happens informally whenever there is a breaking news event. For example, any major snow event will probably create a slew of interesting #snOMG tweets from people affected by it.

Any conference or event will probably have a hashtag associated with it.  The hashtags are a great way for anyone interested in the topic to find more about what’s going on for that particular topic. We’ve used this for New Media Cincinnati – our current hashtag is #nmcincy.

As of this writing the Twitter Chat Schedule has close to 270 regularly scheduled chats. Of the few that I’ve participated in, there is usually a moderator and there are guided questions for those who participate.

Whether you’re in the job search or simply want to find other people online to chat with about any one of your areas of interest, I encourage you to check this list out and get involved. Here’s a short, non-representative sampling:

• #LinkedInChat – weekly chat with questions/advice on how to use LinkedIn effectively
• #eLearnChat – weekly discussion and video simulcast about eLearning
• #AgChat – weekly chat about the agriculture and farming business
• #HFChat – aims to put job seekers in touch with HR folk and recruiters, providing tips, advice, and help

If you don’t find something that you’re interested in among this list, you can start your own. Check out this article for details: HOW TO: Start and Run a Successful Twitter Chat

Please let me know if you have any questions, problems, or comments.

Thanks and make it a great day!

Daniel Johnson, Jr.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Related articles

• Job Seekers, Forget About LinkedIn: The Ultimate Guide for Your Twitter Job Search (windmillnetworking.com)
• 5 Tips on Twitter Chats Plus 8 Marketing & PR Chats to Follow (toprankblog.com)
• Scott Meis: Friday Five: Twitter Chats for Beginners | Edelman Digital (edelmandigital.com)
• 5 Tools to Make the Most of Twitter Hashtags (oneforty.com)
• 10 Examples of B2B Twitter Chats (hubspot.com)
• Why Your Next Event Needs a Hashtag (blogs.constantcontact.com)

Twitter has been around since 2006, which seems like eons in internet time. I signed up in August of that year, and it’s been really neat to see how far the tool has come.  I think each of us as users need to make the tool useful for ourselves, and that often means using the tool differently than others. My strategy and tactics in using Twitter have changed over the past 4 years, and they’ll continue to evolve.

One way I’m currently using Twitter is via a plugin on this blog called Twitter Tools. It posts to Twitter when I publish a new post here on this blog, and it compiles an archive of my tweets. The latter I used to do daily, but I’ve since changed it to weekly.

Over the years, there have been some very powerful stories told that involved Twitter. This year, the Twitter team has compiled what it considers to be the 10 Most Powerful Tweets of 2010. Do you agree with their assessment?

This could be a useful exercise for each of us, provided we have access to our own tweets from January 2010. What would be the top 10 most powerful tweets you sent this year?

Related articles

• Who’s New on Twitter #Hindsight2010 (twitter.com)
• Top Twitter news and TV trends in 2010 (lostremote.com)
• #Hindsight2010: Top Trends on Twitter (twitter.com)

Behold the power of Twitter.

I’ve been going to a book networking group for job seekers at the Barnes & Noble in West Chester for a few months now. Monte Washburn, who works at the bookstore, holds a discussion about books and how they can help job seekers. This week, based on my recommendation, we discussed Mitch Joel‘s new book Six Pixels of Separation (affiliate link).

Monday afternoon Twitter:

• 4:10 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’re going to be talking about your book tomorrow night at a Cincinnati-area Barnes & Noble book club!
• 4:16 PM mitchjoel: @danieljohnsonjr Wanna Skype me in?
• 4:17 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel Let me talk to the organizer and get back with you. I’m danieljohnsonjr on Skype.
• 6:23 PM danieljohnsonjr: @mitchjoel We’d love to have you in on the discussion about your book at the Cincinnati-area B&N book club tomorrow!

It’s not uncommon for an author to be present at a discussion or a book signing, but, through the power of social media, we were able to have Mitch Joel, who lives in Montreal, Quebec, virtually with us in Cincinnati, Ohio, tonight while we discussed his book.

Here are some of my perspectives, based on my notes. I hope I haven’t misinterpreted or taken anything out of context. Here goes:

• Why blog? To be findable, to be knowable.
• Don’t blog with the intent to make money or find a job. You yourself are the best advertiser. Let your content and passion shine through on your blog.
• Communicate where your audience is. The reason Mitch wrote the book is to reach people who weren’t already in the social media space, top-level executives who might want to hire Mitch and his company to help them.
• The same can be said about the different social media tools we have at our disposal: communicate where your audience is. Are they on Twitter? Would they follow a news feed on Twitter? Communicate with them over there. Are they on Facebook? Communicate with them over there.
• Before you jump into social media, and often as you’re active with it, ask yourself, “Why should I be on (insert social media tool here)?”
• In response to a question from one person in the group who asked about whether he should create multiple blogs about different passions he has or combine them into one, Mitch redirected to the previous question. Then he recommended as general advice we
  • Use tools like Google Blog Search to find out who the players are in the verticals, the industries we’re looking to participate in
  • Play in their space – read their blogs, comment on posts, join conversations, etc.
  • Once you get comfortable in that space, then consider branching out on your own, if you have the desire to do so
• Mitch reads a lot. He mentioned a new book by Seth Godin, called Linchpin, which is coming out later this month. He says it’s like Purple Cow (affiliate link) but for individuals.
• Mitch mentioned – and I don’t know if this is from the book or not – Three Prongs for Success. If any of these three are off-balance, you’re going to have trouble:
  1. Professional
  2. Personal/family
  3. Community
• Mitch is seriously passionate about writing, and he writes all the time. He said it takes him about 20 minutes to write a 500-600 word blog post. He keeps notebooks with thoughts and ideas.
• I asked Mitch where he comes up with all of the ideas for his blog posts. He said a lot of his content is crowdsourced from social media sites like Twitter. He reads lots of blogs in Google Reader for ideas.
• There was a comment from the group about whether it was important to get a lot of visitors to your blog. Mitch urged us to focus not on trying to get as many visitors or many followers on Twitter for that matter.
• Instead we should focus on who we’re trying to speak to and create content for those people. A lot of this goes back to the strategy; understanding why we’re involved in a particular channel.
• As job seekers, our goal is to find the one place where we can find the work we were meant to do (emphasis added).
• Having a blog helps us build credibility.
• While some can accomplish their goals simply by being on a single social media outpost alone; i.e., LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter, Mitch reminded us that these are third-party websites that could go away at any time. All of our content on these websites would go away with them.
• Having a blog and a community around a blog means you own your content and are not at the mercy of whether LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook evaporate.
• Once again, when deciding which communication platform – and that’s what all these tools are, really – to participate in, it’s important to consider which platform the audience is using.  Mitch doesn’t have a YouTube channel because his intended audience isn’t over there. He’s looking to reach high-level executives who are looking for business and marketing advice.
• Monte Washburn, the organizer of the group, asked about how to best go about blending online social networking with face-to-face social networking. There are some people who go to a networking event, and when the structured part of the program is over with, leave and then talk about how they didn’t get anything out of it.
• Mitch encouraged us to go into face-to-face networking events with the intent to help others. When we approach it from that angle, we’ll get a lot more about of the events.
• I mentioned that it’s hard to keep waiting for karma to kick in. He said that we’re not waiting for karma; we’re waiting for serendipity. If we approach our networking – online or in-person – with a helpful attitude, then we’re setting ourselves up to be front of mind.
• Mitch used tonight’s discussion as a perfect example of this. He spent 75 minutes talking to a small group of job seekers in Cincinnati, Ohio from his home in Montreal. We might buy his book, and that’s okay. But what might happen is that we leave the discussion remembering who Mitch Joel is, and we’re more apt to recommend him to other people.
• Mitch told a story about trying to get Gene Simmons and later Bono on the front page of a news publication. He contacted the artist’s management, asking for an interview if they were able to get on the front page.  Once they said yes, he contacted the publication, asking if they’d like an interview with the artists, provided the story gets on the front page.
• Key takeaway for job seekers:
  • Find a company or organization that has a problem. Identify what is missing.
  • Find out who can help, and connect the two together.
  • Do this many times.

After we were done with the Skype call, we discussed some things further, and we were all very impressed that we were able to bring Mitch in on such short notice. Some members of the group asked how this was made possible, so here are the details:

1. I’d been following Mitch through social media and his podcasts, Six Pixels of Separation and Media Hacks, for many months. We’ve been connected on LinkedIn, Facebook, and LinkedIn for some time.
2. Mitch wrote Six Pixels of Separation.
3. Monte set up the networking group meeting for people to meet face to face and discuss books relevant to people looking for jobs or ways to improve their careers.
4. A couple months ago, at one of these events, I recommended Mitch’s book to Monte.
5. Monte set up this week’s meeting to discuss Mitch’s book.
6. In my typical enthusiasm, yesterday on Twitter I said how excited I was that we’d be talking about his book, mentioning Mitch by his Twitter username.
7. Through listening to his Twitter stream, he found out about it and asked if we’d be interested in Skyping him in.
8. I contacted Monte to see what he thought, and we were good to go.
9. Mitch and I connected through Skype.
10. I brought my laptop to Barnes & Noble tonight and we brought Mitch into the conversation.

$timulus networking group in Cincinnati, Ohio

On behalf of the group pictured above, thanks again, Mitch, for spending your Tuesday evening with us!

Related articles by Zemanta

• 10 Steps to Achieving ROI (Return on Influence) Through Corporate Blogs (socialwebschool.com)
• Social Media Basics For Executives (slideshare.net)
• 30 second book review – Six Pixels of Separation (kevinsgreatadventure.blogspot.com)

Welcome to another post describing how I use social media. In this case, it’s Twitter (again).

Any social networking tool you use should serve a purpose.  You need to make it useful to you.  I’ve found myself re-evaluating how I’ve used Twitter over the past three or so years and have made changes.  Maybe it’s time you looked at how you use Twitter as well.

The title of this post is meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it’s also serious.  I believe that many people who follow me on Twitter might be better off if they didn’t. Your use of social media will vary from mine, and that’s okay.

So, without further delay, here they are:

10. You prefer to get updates from people you follow via a mobile device. I update very frequently, several times throughout the day. You might want to unfollow me via your mobile device, or at least turn off your mobile notifications.  I only have direct messages sent to my phone.

9. You don’t follow many people, and my updates take up most of your page at Twitter.com. Yes, I update a lot, especially at certain times during the week. If this bothers you, you could a) follow more people or b) unfollow me, even temporarily. I believe there’s even a tool called TwitterSnooze.

8. You want updates from those you follow to be on-topic, all the time. I update Twitter with random things I’m thinking of on the spur of the moment. Many people say that’s one reason why they stick around. If this isn’t you, please unfollow.

7. You don’t want to get updates from an event to which you have no desire attending or watching. I have occasionally updated from events, using specific hashtags to contextualize my updates and for easy reference. If this is too much for you, you might want to unfollow.

6. It bothers you to see someone you follow talk about God, religion, or spirituality. I openly share my faith using Twitter. It’s just another communication vehicle for me, and I am the same online as I am offline. Unfollow if this bothers you.

5. You expect me to follow back when you follow me. I’m sorry, but I cannot keep up with all the notification emails, so I’ve turned them off. Send me an “@” mention to get my attention. If that’s not enough for you, you might want to unfollow.

4. You are bothered when I report my location through a service such as Brightkite. I do occasionally update Brightkite with my location, and I find it useful to track where I’ve been that way. You might want to unfollow if this bothers you.

3. You are not interested in hearing about any of the specific projects I’m working on. I openly talk about some of the new media projects I’m working on, including How I Got My Job, New Media Cincinnati, Journey Inside My Mind, Get That Job, etc. If this sort of thing bores you, please unfollow.

2. You find it impossible and maybe even annoying that someone can be determined to make every day a great day. Yes, it’s true. I do tend to ooze positivity. I’m sorry if this offends you. Please unfollow.

1. For some reason, you don’t want to unfollow because you’re afraid it will hurt my feelings. Seriously? Twitter has always been permission-based. Make the tool useful for you. If what I’m saying isn’t interesting or useful to you, then unfollow.  I think too many people in the Twitter space get emotionally wrapped up in who’s following them and who’s not. Maybe it’s got something to do with the ability to send a direct message (DM) to someone. Maybe it’s something else.

So there you have it. I’ve made the decision easy for you. If what I’m doing on Twitter isn’t useful to you, then it’s okay to unfollow. You might consider checking back in from time to time or even using Twitter Search to keep up. I know some people who do that.

[photo credit: johnscotthaydon]

Related articles by Zemanta

• Blogs, tweets can change live events (lansner.freedomblogging.com)
• Unfollow Non Followers on Twitter (mwd.com)
• Twitter’s new Terms of Service (heidi-miller.com)
• Why I Unfollowed 55,000 Twitter Users (johnchow.com)
• Building Community – A Tale of Two Approaches (danieljohnsonjr.com)

My friend and independent musician Drew LaPlante likes to use the phrase, “It’s a beautiful thing.” I could say that about Twitter and Twitter search.

Using Twitter Search to track trends

One way I use Twitter is to track the presence of certain phrases over time. I subscribe to the RSS feeds for searches in Google Reader and let them sit for at least 30 days.  I’m not as much interested in the content of the individual Twitter updates(tweets) as the aggregated information. I find this exercise to be instructive in understanding trends.

What’s being said and how I might help

I had thought of doing this to identify opportunities to promote the How I Got My Job job-hunting success stories podcast. My original hypothesis was that people might be more interested in knowing about the series right when they’ve lost their jobs.

Understanding the stories data can tell

In all the data analysis I’ve ever done at work and in other projects, to better understand the stories data tell, I’ve realized it’s vital to check and verify the underlying data, and make sure assumptions are clear. That way I and others can make better business decisions.

Analyzing Twitter search trends definitely comes with a caveat.  Take this snapshot of Twitter search data, as shown by day of the week, for example:

This chart shows that, over the past 30 days, the phrases “just lost my job” and “lost my job today” have showed up on the Twitter public timeline on Wednesday the most.  Does this mean that more people are losing their jobs on Wednesdays the most? Maybe, but you cannot be sure from this visual alone.

Why? Because aggregate information like this, a gross overview of the presence of phrases or terms, ignores context. What does “just lost my job” mean to you? Does it mean today? Last week? A couple weeks ago? What about those who do not report their job loss on Twitter with these words?

Even so, Twitter search trend analysis like this is instructive to know that people are talking about losing jobs, and it identifies opportunities to share about the series.

The visual above shows the same Twitter search data over the past 30 days, but in this case by time of day. The orange bar shows what time I’ve marked the items as read in Google Reader and can be ignored.  The chart indicates more people mentioning “lost my job today” or “just lost my job” in the afternoon or evening, perhaps, after coming home from their last day of work.

How I use the data

So, what does this mean for me? It seems that promoting the show on Twitter in the afternoon would perhaps reach the largest audience that might be most receptive, and maybe doing this on Wednesday would be best.  I still need to find a way to measure whether these efforts are successful, and this could be done by checking web analytics.

What say you?

I don’t claim that this approach is without flaws, and would love to see how it could be improved.  I would like to better track the effectiveness of promotions and welcome your thoughts.  What do you think of this approach?  What would you do differently? Have you ever taken a similar approach?

April 13, 2001 UPDATE: Christopher Penn shares some additional insight into timing Twitter updates that you should read. Check out “When is the best time to tweet?”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Using Google Reader As A Twitter Search Engine (philbaumann.com)
• FriendFeed: Still Great At Social Search (philbaumann.com)
• How Do You Prioritize Your Social Media? (socialmediatoday.com)