Bye, Bye Barbie – Hello BlackBerry

– Caity Kauffman is a 20-year-old, social media-obsessed journalism student dabbling in sports writing, news writing and broadcast. Follow her on twitter at @caitykauffman.

As technology is filtering down to younger and younger generations (I have a friend who gave his three-year-old niece his iPhone when he upgraded to the 3G. No joke.) there is a rise in the concern of its effects on the developing brain.

Being born in the late-1980s, I’m the first generation to literally grow up in a digital world. Somewhere in the depths of a scrapbook, there’s baby picture of me poking away at an IBM computer the size of mini-fridge. When I was 10-years-old, my parents gave me my first desktop Gateway. I filmed and digitally edited my 13th birthday party, and the same year I got my first cell phone – a silver Motorola flip phone the size of a brick. I don’t have veins, I have wires.

Question is: is the digital world helping the Internet generation utilize our brains, or are we just distracting it with multitasking overload?

There are times, I’ll admit, my digital savvy has been more distracting than productive. I’ve fiddled away hours clicking through Facebook statuses or played mindless hours of Guitar Hero until my thumb nearly cracks off.

Last week, my honors reading class at Florida Gulf Coast University discussed of Don Tapscott’s “Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation Is Changing Your World.” Our class of seven (plus one journalism professor to keep us on track) seemed to all agree that the baby boomers’ implications that NetGen-ers lack concentration, productivity and retain less information aren’t all true.

Tapscott wrote about interactive technology, and how regularly playing an action video game can change how the brain processes information.

John, an outspoken, bearded philosophy major can vouch for video games, using Halo as an example. “You notice your radar, how much ammo you have, where your teammates are, how much life you have left all while you’re having a conversation with your team on a headset,” he says.  “We are able to instantly compartmentalize every aspect of the game.”

I guess it’s no surprise teenage boys lock themselves into their bedrooms for hours at a time, committing virtual massacres inside their TV screen: there’s a hell of a lot to process simultaneously.

Audrey, a soft spoken 21-year-old from Malaysia, takes multitasking to an entirely new realm. She says in order to concentrate, she listens to Chinese music (one of four languages she speaks) as she reads her textbooks that are written in English, writes her blog in English all while switching back and forth from Facebook.

She does admit the the United States’ reliance on technology has made her a little lazy since moving to the states to attend college. “I grew up in Malaysia, and we had to memorize a lot,” she says. “Here, we copy and paste. I think it has to do with culture.”

But why memorize when we carry around Google on our iPhones?

As much as my generation is reliant on our BlackBerrys to help us find the nearest coffee shop, I think it has to be more with efficiency than laziness. The world moves faster than ever, and there’s an increasing urgency for productivity. If Merriam-Webster says “google” is a legitimate verb, then Google I will.

How Intuit Stays Relevant Using Social Media

Christen Wegner is a former journalist turned resident Gen Yer on the communications team at Intuit. When not on Twitter, she is usually texting, on Facebook, or writing for various blogs like Small Business United and TurboTax.

One of the hottest topics for any business, from the small to the large is social. So my first thought when Kyle Lacy sent me a tweet asking me to write a guest blog post I was like “Oh cool, Intuit is doing so much, yay, let’s share.”

So I started collecting info regarding all out campaigns, events, and information and started sharing that with friends and family. But what floored me was what I would find out after talking with a couple former coworkers. Companies are actually still banning their employees from social media – things like Facebook, Twitter, and gasp, personal blogs.

I guess I live in a little bubble and take for granted the fact that at Intuit, we are trusted that we will do what is right as THE voice of Intuit on social channels. And without those social channels there is no way Intuit could have done anything fun, interesting or relevant to what small businesses want and need.

One of those conversations was with a former colleague who told me her company has just blocked Facebook and MySpace from their computers stating employees were “wasting too much time on the social networks.” Of course, her IT department didn’t account for the mobile applications and now employees are frequently seen gripping their Blackberry’s and iPhones.

Thriving with social

When I joined Intuit, social media wasn’t new but it was this undiscovered territory. We were trying to find the right balance between keeping our employees happy and keeping them productive. Happily three years later I can sit here, write this article, have TweetDeck running in the background, and occasionally check out Facebook.

In fact, Intuit encourages employees to do just that. We have employees who train customer service reps, engineers and developers how to start interacting in such social channels. On our Intuit Community dozens of different employees interact every day answering questions, solving problems and simply act as a sounding board for our customers. And what is even better is the Community is where customers go to talk to other customers as well.

And our Small Business team was one of the first teams at Intuit on Twitter. Today we have more than 50 teams and individuals out there. What they learned early on meant a change in strategy for Intuit and insights into how we can help small businesses succeed.

Much of that success led to a desire for other social networking events like town halls, small business events, and a blog where regular experts discuss their tips and tricks (http://smallbusiness.intuit.com/blog/). All of this to help small businesses succeed in business and thrive in the social realm.

Over the last eight months we have managed the Love a Local Business Campaign in which Intuit is putting small businesses on the map. The idea is that fans, including customers, vendors, employees, and the community, determine what small businesses deserve some love with winners receiving small business grants.

That’s right, free money for doing what these small business do every day – take care of their customers and being social.

A big part of our strategy reflects a changing world where people and businesses are increasingly connected. We want to arm all small businesses and employees with tools , ways to listen, and create strong customer engagement as one small business community.

I don’t think any of this could have been done without access to our social channels. So thanks Intuit for letting me and my team stay relevant. And the hope is that our work helps small businesses stay relevant as well.

7 Ways to Build a Personal Brand Out of College

Rob Stretch is a marketing major at the University of Missouri, graduating this May. On the side, works in VA Mortgage Center.com’s online marketing department part-time, working on SEO and social media related projects.

As a college student almost ready to graduate, I am extremely concerned with personal branding. Resumes are not just pieces of paper anymore. For better or worse, companies are becoming more and more concerned with candidates’ appearance on social networks as well as online reputation in general.

And it’s not just college students that should care. Potential clients and customers often track a company or professional’s online presence before doing business. Enter the world of personal branding and online reputation management. Below is a list of what you can do today to start maintaining a positive online presence.

1. If you don’t have one, start a blog or online portfolio

Go ahead and register yourname.com. If it’s not available, try your-name.com, stick a middle name or initial in there, or get creative. Use a .net if you need to. The point is, as more and more people are getting online, domain real estate is getting harder and harder to come by. Get ahead of the curve and register your property today.

2. Get active on Facebook

If you’re reading this blog, I’m sure that you’re one of the 160 million that have a Facebook profile. Congratulations, now put it to use. Make sure your pictures reflect you, if you don’t like how one portrays your image, un-tag it. If you don’t want potential employers/clients/associates to see unflattering pictures of you then delete them or change your privacy settings. Make sure you’re participating in the conversation – use status updates a little more sparingly than Twitter but make sure you’re staying active.

3. Join the conversation on Twitter

If you you’re one of those people who refuse to get on Twitter, get over it and try it out. Start following key players in your industry or concentration. Start mentioning them, you never know when they’ll reply back. Most importantly, spend a little time on your profile. Search for customizable Twitter templates and make a background for yourself. Check out TwitBacks to start. It is pretty easy to look professional on Twitter with a little elbow grease.

4. Get LinkedIn

LinkedIn can be a great way to connect to people as well as groups in your industry. Make sure you completely fill out your profile, upload your resume, and start connecting to people you know. More connections will follow. One great reason to have a LinkedIn profile is the recommendations feature. Start writing recommendations for your friends and they should return the favor. This can be a great way for potential employers/clients to notice you online.

5. Create your social footprint

Now you have a blog and three active social media profiles. Link them! Creating a social web is the best way to funnel people into your new brand. You should have icons near the top of your blog that link back to all three. Also, make sure you link all three back to your blog where they ask you to list personal websites. Finally, make sure as you are writing blog posts you are linking them on your Facebook and Twitter statuses.

6. Brand to tangibles

Include the URLs of your blog and profiles on your resume and business cards. Imagine you’re in the shoes of your potential employer. You are handed two resumes. One of the resumes has a link to your personal blog full of insightful posts which then leads them to the rest of your social web. The other resume is just a piece of paper with accomplishments. Think interactivity. Which one looks better?

7. Monitor your image

Check on your personal branding “campaign”. Run a Google search on your name in quotations and see what pops up. Another great tool for monitoring your web presence is Who’s Talking.

The information available online about you can be overwhelming, even scary at times. But this doesn’t have to be viewed as a negative of the information age. With proper personal branding and reputation management, spend a little time and you should come out on top of all of your competitors.

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What Is Social Media? I Mean Really.

Jonathan is a 2008 graduate of the Farmer School at Miami University. He works at a small web development firm in Cincinnati where he brings a fresh interdisciplinary approach to project management and business operations. He’s always either checking in or tweeting his iPhone and he’s passionate about people and bringing digital connections into reality. He’s an active blogger for continuous web and a founder of the group’s Cincinnati meet-up. Got questions, shoot him an e-mail

What (the hell) is social media? I hate that question. I even hate the term. It’s truly just the Internet. It’s so many things and it’s expanding every day and, quite honestly, I don’t care how it’s defined. What’s great about everything that’s happening in the digital space right now is that it can mean something different to every single one of us. Let me explain:

In game theory, utility is defined as “a measure of that which is sought to be maximized in any situation involving a choice” Another definition says “the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial.”

Here are the important words that I see in those definitions: choice, maximized, useful, beneficial. What’s so great about those words? They can mean entirely different things to you than they do to me. They’re all tied to intrinsic value, REAL value…not market value — and “real” means whatever I decide that it means. It’s what is essential to me.

What does utility have to do with social media? In short: everything. In our country, we seem to have a fixation on ROI. In a social space, it’s difficult impossible to put a measurable ROI on interaction…on being involved. ROI in this space is, by definition, unquantifiable. How many dollars will I make? How many customers will I gain? Traditionally, that’s how a business might measure its return on investment when investing its time, people, research, and dollars into a new venture. When investing in social media there needs to be a paradigm shift.

Someday soon, it won’t be about the ROI some business gets for investing in social media — it will be about the ROI that a consumer person gets for investing in a brand. (aside: i’m not talking about a financial investment, I’m talking time and energy. The important question will be “What do I get for interacting with your brand”) That ROI will be measured in utility.

I believe that we’ll see a shift toward a consumer-centric economy where extrinsic value is replaced by intrinsic value. @nickseguin and I have had many discussions about the importance of intrinsic value and how the success or failure of a brand will correlate directly with its ability to engage its audience. Rather than brands and organizations asking about ROI, they’ll be asking how they can improve the consumer experience. The consumers will be the ones making decisions based on ROI.

As a rational (economically) consumer of goods and services, I will be choosing to engage with brands (products, services, organizations, etc.) that provide me with utility.  The paradigm shift that I mention earlier relates directly to this — brands are losing control of not only the content, but the medium on which that content is exchanged. Social media The Internet will be how i digest this content. At my convenience. AT. MY. CONVENIENCE.

As consumers, we will become the center of the universe for brands. And damn it, I can’t wait!

Social Media from a Generation Y Perspective

Jenn Lisak is a senior marketing major at Butler University who is currently looking for a post-graduation job utilizing her skills in marketing, advertising, and social media. She is currently interning at TF Publishing in Indianapolis, and she is passionate about social media communication.

Almost ten years ago, I joined social media networks, such as MySpace and Facebook, for the sole purpose of staying connected with my friends and family on the worldwide web. Most of Generation Y joined these networks for this reason, and I would even argue that we initiated the social media movement over the span of the last decade. We constantly updated our statuses, we posted pictures, and we created an online community that our parents joked about. Little did they know that social media would become a part of their lives soon enough. (And not just as a social network either).

In the past year alone, business executives and corporations have become a large part of the social media community, especially on Twitter. In November of 2009, I decided to create an account on Twitter in order to find out more about these major corporations and what’s happening in the business world. However, I noticed that this social network was different from what I knew, and that I wanted to use it differently than MySpace or Facebook. During my first couple of days on Twitter, I simply looked at what other people posted and got a general feel for the network. When I was exploring the site, I stumbled upon even more social media networks that people were using, and I observed a difference in how these networks were used as well. Finally, I came to an important realization; these networks, including MySpace and Facebook, weren’t just used for social communication anymore. The world of social media had transformed into a place to market brand names, to post news stories, to provide customer service, and to become more knowledgeable about many different fields. In other words, social media had changed for me. Social media had changed for everyone!

Social media networks have become playgrounds for businesses: they’re free, fun, and accessible. But these businesses take up social media space. So, what does this mean for Generation Y? For one, we are shocked that the Baby Boomers and Generation X have taken over the online community that we initiated. On the other hand, we know that we now have complete access to business professionals and social media experts that we would not have access to otherwise. But the best part about the change is that the social media revolution has created thousands of awesome jobs that WE can fill!

Where do I think social media is going? I think it’s going in exactly the right direction. Technology and social media communication have provided us with resources that we need to embrace instead of resist. Social media isn’t just a pastime anymore — it’s a necessary tool for businesses to serve their customers more effectively. It’s created a whole job industry in the midst of a recession. For some, it’s created a lifestyle. And it gives us access to the people we want to know about.

My advice to all businesses is to use social media. Decide what you want to represent in the social media world. Integrate your marketing communications across all channels. Most importantly, don’t just use social media for the benefit of yourself. Use it to create a community, help other people, and learn from the experts! Just as Becky Robinson said, social media is about relationships. Make them and use them!

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Baby Boomer’s Should Listen to Gen Y in Tech

We (Brandswag) have regular conversations with the good folks over at the Taylor MBA program. They are a great school and are always in tune and up-to-date with changes in communication technology. Taylor MBA’s head honcho, Larry Rottmeyer, forwarded me an article from the Havard Business Review names Let Gen Y Teach Teach. The article is about older generations finding a younger mentor.

This is a new concept to me. In pre and post college years you are told constantly to find older mentors who have the ability to guide you through the difficult parts of life and business. I am a huge advocate of the younger generations finding mentors. I would not be where I am today without the guidance of some key people in my life. That point… is for certain.

Time Warner has decided to take the lead on a reverse mentoring program which gives younger individuals the chance to mentor the older generation.

I find it fascinating that this conversation is taking place among the business and technology elite around the globe. There should always be a give and take relationship when it comes to a mentoring position… both young and old. This gives the younger generation (my generation) the ability to show their skills in things that may be deemed as unnecessary to some…in the older generations.

The fact is… technology is going to change the face of how we do business… it happens in every generation. It is comforting to know some are taking a valiant leap towards learning more about the world of communication technology.

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Iggy Pintado’s Connection Generation Review

Many of you may be connected to Iggy Pintado on Twitter: @iggypintado. He is a brilliant marketer, genius at generational marketing, and ex-IBM executive out of Australia. If you are not following him… take a second and do it. You will not regret the decision.

Iggy was kind enough to send me his book, Connection Generation, to read and contemplate. I must admit… I have had the book for a couple of months and just had the time to sit down and read it from front to back. It is awesome. I really did enjoy reading about the different levels of communication from a generational standpoint. There is going (it is happening now) a huge shift in the way people communicate over the next decade. Iggy’s book helps break down the ideas and trends that may be hurting/helping the way WE communicate in the future.

I love how Iggy breaks a part the idea of the Passive Connector.

“Passives have an understanding of communication and connection applications but choose not to prioritize them in practice as part of their day-to-day regiments. They possess a very theoretical view of the word “connection,” manifested in their frame of reference as being more CONCEPTUAL interpretation. They visualize connection as a puzzle… a connect the dots.”

The book help me pinpoint some of the ways I am communicate my overall marketing message to different individuals in the professional environment. I didn’t quite realize (to my fault) that each person has a different level of understanding when it comes to the idea of connecting.

That is just a small snippet of what I found valuable in the book. I am already starting to apply some of the ideas from the book to the way we sell, talk, and promote social media to potential clients.

Go to the website and read about the book. You will not regret it and I recommend it.

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Truth and Two-Way Communication: Using Social Media for PR

By Sarah Ann Noel

As a PR professional, I’ve been called a lot of things.
Truth-stretcher.
Spin doctor.
Media suck-up.
And of course, I shudder at most of these misconceptions, public relations being my livelihood. It demonstrates a valid point, however; public relations leaves a lot to be defined professionally speaking.

While I appreciate the creativity floating around what it is I do, from my standpoint, there is a good definition of public relations: Communicating controlled messages. PR professionals are not just communicators; it’s a different skill set because you must incorporate a strong focus and a missional sixth sense, to varying audiences.

This is why I love social media for PR, in the midst of questions whether it is a PR or a marketing function. Messages are direct—short and sweet. They’re targeted—you know who you’re reaching. They’re intentional—people are seeking the information.

For example, I know that consumers seeking my organization’s services are going to the website first. I try to include the most pertinent information for those consumers, alongside additional sources of information. The messaging on the website is succinct, severely controlled, and offers only the hardest of facts.

But in my organization’s LinkedIn group, the ideas fly. Industry professionals ask questions and answer questions; they promote projects and events; they offer updates on legislation and programs that affect our key players.

Then there’s our organizational blog. Knowing that this serves a predominantly internal communications function, I can include short updates, event notices, and resources for our employee network.

Three very different mediums serving very different purposes, but all achieving that same public relations goal: Communicating controlled messages.

I think there’s another benefit to social media in PR too, one that maybe goes unnoticed—there’s exceptional opportunity for increased two-way communication. In this industry, if you’re not on top of what the public is saying, you’re not doing your job well. And if you’re in PR and your social media outlets haven’t told you what the public is thinking, you’re not using your online tools well.

I mean, where did my disgruntled Sprint-customer-of-a-husband finally get his customer service questions answered? Twitter! After months of frustration, he stumbled across a Sprint manager on Twitter, made his concerns known, and the problem was resolved in a number of days. Social media outlets open the gateways to conversations, often times between a basic consumer and a decision-making member of any given organization. It creates a two-way communication stream essential to customer service (and public relations!) success.

Good public relations offers controlled messages, but it also puts power in the hands of the people by providing the information and opportunities that they need. Social media gives any PR professional the means to do exactly that. That’s not being a truth-stretcher; sheesh, I’m a truth-giver.

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Is Gen Y Going to Leave Facebook?

I “grew” up on Facebook. It is true.

My sophomore year of college is when Facebook hit the campus of Anderson University like a firestorm. Everyone was joining talking about the internal messaging and laughing at the pictures being posted over the first couple of months. It was the epitome of a 24/7 party but online.

Gen Y (millennial) have ruled Facebook for the last couple of years but that is changing… rapidly. Online Media Daily describes the changing tide of demographics on the social media powerhouse:

“Facebook is aging fast. The number of U.S. users over 35 has doubled in just the last 60 days, according to new data from Inside Facebook.”

Baby Boomers are also taking advantage of Facebook… rapidly. What is a Gen Y to do?

I have been having multiple conversations lately about the generation clash that is about to happen on Facebook. With parents and family members joining the social network I believe we are going to see a shift in younger users moving on to other platforms. Maybe.

It is debateable. Can the Gen Y users get comfortable with their mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, and uncles joining THEIR network?

What do you think?

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The Job-Seeking Student’s Social Media Toolbox

Today’s guest post is by David Spinks. David is a student at SUNY Geneseo, an freelance interactive analyst for Ruder Finn, a social media enthusiast, a big Giants fan, an athlete, a gamer, an artist and many other things depending on who you ask. You can read this thoughts and opinions at DavidSpinks.com.

______________________________

We grew up on livejournal, then upgraded to myspace, and finally matured to facebook. College students know their way around a social media platform, that’s for sure. The problem is many students limit themselves to the one or two big sites, or tools, and fail to recognize the great amount of potential these sites and other sites can offer you in your job search.

I have been using multiple social media tools while at school to connect with a lot of professionals that I would never been able to meet otherwise. From these connections I have been able to create a few job opportunities in a very tough job market. Make use of your social media toolbox, connect and collaborate like you were raised, and create opportunities for yourself!

Google Reader

The first step to establishing your presence in a field is to know what is going on in that field. Search for blogs by professionals and subscribe to their feed. Most news sites will also offer an RSS feed that you can subscribe to.

A good way to build a list of blogs to follow is to look up blogs on google, find a couple good ones, then look at their blogrolls. Usually good bloggers can recommend other good blogs. Try to subscribe to blogs with slightly different ideas so that you’re not only hearing one side of discussions.

You can also create a feed based on keywords. All articles that google finds with that keyword will then be fed into your reader. This is another good way to find more blogs to subscribe to.

When you start looking for jobs, you can subscribe to job boards and have all openings fed into your reader.

Twitter

If you’re not on twitter already, you probably should be. If you’re skeptical of its value, there are plenty of great articles written explaining the value of twitter as a networking tool, and articles to help you get started.

Through twitter, you’ll be able to connect with seasoned and new professionals; allowing you to learn from their expertise, offer your own insights, and if you play your cards right, create job opportunities.

Once you’re comfortable and established on twitter, you’ll be able to keep with the most recent trends, innovations, and news in your industry. If you have a question, ask your loyal followers and receive instant responses. The greatest thing about twitter is that almost everyone is willing to help, myself included (@davidspinks if you have any questions).

Linkedin

This is a great tool that will not only allow you to create a professional presence online, found easily on search engines, but will also allow you to connect with professionals in your desired field from all over the world. You can use twitter to create connections with like-minded professionals, and stay connected through linkedin.

The Answers section is a great tool that I like to use every so often. You can discuss different ideas and prove your knowledge / enthusiasm to other professionals. If your answer is good enough (the “best answer”), the person who asked the question can grant you “expertise” under that topic.

Blog

These networks are great, but if you really want to create a name for yourself start your own blog. You need three things: Thoughts and opinions on your field of interest (if you don’t, you should probably reconsider your career) some writing skills, and time that you can commit to updating your blog.

Setting one up is really easy with services like wordpress (I use it) and blogger. Read up on some articles that provide advice on how to start a blog and get started! You can use your other social media tools like twitter, linkedin and even facebook to drive traffic to your blog.

Your blog will allow employers to see that you’re involved in the industry, you’re enthusiastic, and allow them to get an idea of your writing skills which may matter depending on your field. It will also give you a good google ranking when people search your name, unless you share a name with someone famous (I get a lot of hits from people searching “the great spinks” looking for the boxer).

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