Daniel Johnson, Jr.

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. (more…)

My friend Carole Baker, who founded the New Media Dayton group, recently shared on Facebook:

I just want to say that I’ve been deeply involved in social media (for businesses and brands) for two years now and never once have I poked anyone. I do not understand why anyone would want to poke me, and I have no idea what it means. There I said it. I had to get it off my chest. And another thing…I have never thrown sheep. Why the heck would you throw sheep?

Now I’ve been using Facebook for about four years now, since 2007, and I have poked, been poked, and I think I’ve even been super-poked. I think back then Cliff Ravenscraft declared me the winner of an informal poking contest. I’ve often wondered what the metaphysical consequences of what happens when you poking yourself.

If I remember correctly, here’s the way it used to work: (more…)

In the social media world, I think we tend to have a love-hate relationship with Facebook. At last Saturday’s New Media Cincinnati, we talked a lot about how Facebook continually is changing things around, which forces us to stay on our toes when it comes to our privacy settings.

And yet we still love Facebook. (more…)

I recently shared about my approach in using Eventbrite to manage New Media Cincinnati events I’ve organized. My approach has changed over time, and I suppose it will continue to be tweaked. This post is not about my approach, though. (more…)

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Geez. It’s October already.

For three years now, I’ve been organizing events for the in-person social networking community I founded called New Media Cincinnati. We actually have the October event coming up this weekend.

My approach in getting the word out about these events has changed over time, from sending multiple direct messages to followers, to using Facebook as the medium to plan and organize the events.  For awhile we even had a wiki set up. I thought I’d share some of  my current approach to getting the word out.

An approach to event marketing

In 2008, I began using Eventbrite to organize, plan, and run the monthly events, which have become known as New Media Cincinnati Second Saturdays (mostly because people always wondered when we met). I’ve enjoyed using Eventbrite, and I’m not ashamed to recommend them (and for you to use my affiliate link!). (more…)

I’ve been asked a number of times recently in the local Cincinnati community about how the different social networking platforms relate to one another and why someone would want to participate in any or all of them.

There are a lot of parallels to our online and offline lives.  Consider your presence online as participating in a digital neighborhood. It’s your digital neighborhood, consisting of all the places where you hang out. These analogies could probably be fleshed out a bit further, but go with me on this, okay?

(more…)

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: (more…)

We like it and we say so

If you’re active on Facebook, you probably have noticed that when you or others post something, other people can “like” what you’ve posted, and Facebook gives it a “thumbs up”. It keeps track of how many “likes” a post gets, and you’ll typically see verbiage that reads, “John Smith likes this”. This feature of Facebook becomes something of a promotion engine. (more…)

Sometime in your life you will go on a journey. It will be the longest journey you have ever taken. It is the journey to find yourself. — Katherine Sharp

In the spirit of over-communication… I’m sorry.

Background

This morning I knew I needed to get the word out about this weekend’s New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday event.  At only 5 days away, I personally felt a sense of urgency, since this group looks to me, Founder and Event Organizer, for direction.  While this sense of urgency originated from a “good heart”, the way the communication was executed had a varied effect on others.

I remember many years ago, that the head of a consulting division would send out messages across multiple channels, prefacing with “In the spirit of overcommunication…” His intent was to make sure the message reach everyone, at least on one channel.

That’s a lot like what we have in social media, isn’t it? We have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, e-Mail, and several other media channels in which to communicate.  At any given moment, people are watching any one of these channels; many are watching them all.

Here’s what I did:

1. Created Eventbrite page for the June 2009 New Media Cincinnati Second Saturday event.
2. Sent e-mail invitations to people who have either come to previous events or have indicated an interest in getting an e-mail invitation.
3. Sent e-mail invitations to people in my address book whom I thought MIGHT be interested.
4. Total number of email invitations sent: 289
5. Registered for the event myself, notifying Facebook that I did.
6. Sent a message to the New Media Cincinnati Facebook group, notifying them of the Eventbrite link.
7. Total number of Facebook messages sent: 343
8. Set up a Featured Discussion at the New Media Cincinnati LinkedIn group, notifying them of the Eventbrite link.
9. Total number of people in the LinkedIn group: 143
10. Wrote a blog post at newmediacincinnati.com with the details with the Eventbrite link.
11. Let people know via the New Media Cincinnati Twitter account at the various stages above know that something was coming through public updates.
12. Sent direct messages to several local people who follow the New Media Cincinnati Twitter account, with the Eventbrite link. Total number of direct messages sent out: close to 1000?

And that’s when the kerfuffle started.

Too much of a good thing

Apparently, the direct message from Twitter was the breaking point.  I only intended to get the message out as quickly as possible, across as many channels as possible, so that people can have an opportunity to respond to it.  This is especially needed when the anticipated demand is greater than the seating capacity.

Even so, I was only seeing things from my perspective. I misunderstood why people follow or have become affiliated with the New Media Cincinnati social media group among its web presence as though it was permission-based messaging.

Not everyone sees it that way, as I have found.

The problem

I don’t know how to communicate with you.  Everyone uses social media differently, and that’s okay.  Even so, there comes a point when there is too much communication, too much information.

Some of you won’t come right out and say that I’ve been communicating too much; you just delete the messages you don’t need.  But others have. It’s taken a few hours, and I’ve finally gotten the message.  I need to rethink how I communicate with the group and even consider limiting it to one channel.

Whatever that channel becomes, I will need to better space out the communication and remain consistent. It also has to be something I can do efficiently, since I’m still running this group pro bono.

How can I communicate messages to the widest possible audience possible, in the most efficient way possible?

No social media expert

This is why I’m definitely not a social media expert.  This has been one of the lessons that indicates I still have much to learn.  As Katherine Sharp indicated, I’m just a guy on a journey.

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