Tag: social media

May 4, 2012

Brand Against The Machine – A Book Review

After years of relentlessly being inundated by business books overflowing with textbook terms like ‘brand equity’, ‘value proposition’, and ‘positioning statement’, this book was incredibly refreshing and rejuvenating. It cuts through the BS and gives you the tools you need to build a powerful brand TODAY.

‘Brand Against The Machine’ isn’t like any other brand book you’ve ever read. Its chapters are short, and free of fluff. Each one is like an espresso shot of inspiration. The language style is conversational, and injected with humour. Author John Morgan @johnmorgan wastes no time in getting right to the point: Brand-building is going through a metamorphosis, and things are never going to be the same.

Now that communications between customers and brands have evolved and are far more powerful, far faster, and far more widespread, the branding methodology we’ve traditionally used is being shaken to its core. No longer are brands determined by the company’s positioning statement, but rather what your consumers say and think. They are the judge of what your brand is. You don’t tell them, they tell you.

Morgan’s book isn’t a preachy view from 30,000ft. It provides real-world examples of branding successes and failures using methods that are far from mainstream. One of the most poignant lessons I took away from BATM is to let go of our reliance on the ‘tried and true’. Take a chance, take a risk, and try something that’s never been done before. The most memorable and powerful brands are the ones who break from the mainstream and zig when everyone else zags.

Without a doubt, you will be inspired by this book. Each chapter attacks one particular branding issue or challenge, and will leave you with a simple concept that makes you confident that ‘Yes, we CAN try that’. Brand Against The Machine will undoubtedly be one of those books you keep on your desk or in your office and will be read and re-read time and time again. If you want to know what it takes to build a remarkable brand in 2012 and beyond, you need this book. Part roadmap; Part wake-up call; All awesome.

Find Brand Against The Machine on Amazon

More great stuff from John Morgan

Note: This review was not solicited in any way. My copy of Brand Against The Machine was purchased personally.

This review originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

April 18, 2012

Disaster-Related Promotions Never End Well – KFC’s Facebook Fail

by Jonathan Barrick

I sure would like to meet the person who thought that THIS would be a good idea. Evidently, some genius over at KFC in Thailand was struck with the inspiration that most people in the country would be too busy monitoring the news for earthquake and tsunami updates to cook, and therefore this would be a great time for everyone to order a bucket of chicken.

Seriously, they actually posted this on their Facebook wall:

“People should hurry home this evening to monitor the earthquake situation and don’t forget to order the KFC menu, which will be delivered direct to your hands,”

Knowing what I know about people and how they typically react to things like this, there are a couple of things I feel are inherently wrong with this strategy.

1 – History has shown that we tend to frown upon businesses looking to profit from natural disasters.

2 – What makes them think anyone would be taking the time out during a major earthquake alert to see what’s new on the Facebook page dedicated to fried chicken?

Evidently news of Kenneth Cole’s poorly thought out tweet during the Cairo riots last spring never made it to KFC Thailand’s marketing team. Too bad, because if they had followed that story, they would have seen the general public express a massive amount of outrage at the fact that Kenneth Cole would trivialize such an event this way.

After Thailand began voicing its outrage at the post, it was taken down and a public apology was issued, but has done little to assuage the anger generated as a result.

Several words come to mind summarizing KFC’s mistake: Insensitivity, Greed, Irresponsibility, Ignorance

Ultimately, the message for brands here is pretty clear: During times of national crisis or social upheaval, you might want to stay away from business promotions tied directly to such events. They rarely end well.

This article originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

February 14, 2012

Who Owns the Account? – Navigating the Minefield of Social Ownership

by Jonathan Barrick

When your job responsibilities include engaging in social media, are the contacts you make truly yours, or do they belong to the company?

It’s a divisive topic for companies who engage in social communications. If you put an employee in the position of representing your brand in social media channels, what happens with that account if that employee leaves your business? How should you set up these accounts, and how ‘personal’ do you make them appear?

Recently, the story of PhoneDog and its former employee Noah Kravitz brought forth a shining example of how things can go horribly awry. PhoneDog alleges they setup the account & username for Kravitz to use for business purposes. Over time the number of followers grew to over 17,000, and when Kravitz left to work for a competitor, he changed the account name to his own & continued to use it.

On the surface, the answer seems pretty clear. PhoneDog setup the account for business, so it’s theirs. However, there are different perspectives that come in to play in the world of social media that muddy the waters. For example, is it certain that the followers were truly following the ‘brand’, or were they following Noah? What’s the context in which this account was used? Does the context even matter, or does the original intent of the account override any personal factors rising from how it was used?

These questions can be extremely difficult to answer for some businesses, and the decisions you make here could have huge repercussions in the future. These are questions not typically addressed in your average social media policy, as they generally stick to covering things like behaviour and the types of content being shared, not the ownership of connections being made between individuals. Fortunately, there are some sensible steps you can take to easily maintain a ‘personal’ face for your brand AND minimize the risk of disruption if certain individuals leave your business.

In navigating this minefield, the first question you need to ask is “Will the account be used for BUSINESS PURPOSES?” If the answer is “Yes”, then I believe that the following criteria for the setup of social media accounts would protect both parties regarding ownership of accounts that are used for business purposes:

If the account was created under the individual’s personal identity prior to the beginning of the contract, the account remains property of the individual.
If the account was created by the company for the purposes of official company communication/representation, then the account remains property of the company.
It is appropriate for small businesses and sole-proprietorships to present themselves through the personal accounts of the owner, but it is important to keep in mind that any personal opinions shared through these accounts directly impact the image of the brand. It is nearly impossible to separate the brand of the business from the brand of the individual in these situations.
In larger businesses, it is appropriate for special corporate accounts to be created for each individual who will be participating in social communications, and these accounts should be designated as such. Example: A Dell employee named Jim might communicate on behalf of Dell on Twitter using the handle: @JimAtDell
Visually, choosing the right profile picture for the account is also important. Using the example above, it would make sense for @JimAtDell’s account to feature a picture of Jim with the Dell logo added to it in order to visually distinguish it as an official company account.
If the company will have multiple individuals contributing through the same account, it is effective to add the initials of the individual posted at the end of each piece of content to designate the person responsible for that posting. Example: An employee named Mike Smith tweeting through the @starbucks account would end each of his tweets with ‘MS’
In situations where multiple people are using the same social account on behalf of the company, it would be appropriate for the profile picture to be that of the corporate logo, or other universally applicable image not associated with any one particular individual. Although in certain situations, one individual may be designated to be the figurehead of the account, and therefore use of their picture along with a logo would be appropriate.
In certain situations, it may be wise to cross-reference the account of the individual and the account of the company in the bio spaces of each account. From the example we used earlier, Mike Smith’s @mikesmith personal twitter account bio might mention he tweets from @starbucks with the initials MS, and the @starbucks account might mention tweets from @mikesmith in its bio. This would help to ensure that business followers and personal followers are aware of the difference between the two.

Ultimately, every company needs to choose the approach that best suits their brand & their goals. And in the event that the one, singular face of your brand in social media decides to leave your business, the reality is that some of your fans WILL inevitably go with them. Of course, how many fans leave will depend on more than just how you approach each of the factors I laid out above. HOW they leave, WHERE they go, and WHY they left will all play a role in how things pan out for your business.

The best approach, of course, is to maintain a clear line of communication to the employees managing the accounts regarding the company’s expectations. Make it clear at the very beginning that the accounts created for the purposes of business belong to the company. They are communications tools just like laptops and cell phones, and the employee should understand that when they leave they must return all property. That includes Twitter accounts!

On the other side of the spectrum, companies must recognize that just like personal laptops or cell phones, a personal Twitter account stays with the individual. If you ask or require them to use their own equipment or account for company purposes, then you’d better respect their ownership of it.

This article originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

February 2, 2012

The Big, Bold Benefits of Blogging for Business

by Jonathan Barrick

A recent eMarketer article told an interesting tale on what marketers are planning for social activity in 2012. Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents marked Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as the top 3 places where they are currently active. After all, these are easily the most talked-about social networks right now, and are poised to continue to be tremendously effective in connecting with customers for the foreseeable future.

Blogs came in at #4 on the list. This shouldn’t be too much of a shock, since blogs are one of the oldest forms of ‘social’ on the list, according to how we define it today. We should take note that every item on this list (with the exception of ‘blogs’ and ‘forums’) are specific ‘sites’, like Twitter and Flickr for example. ‘Blogs’ however is a pretty broad term, and includes innumerable variations across such platforms as Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, Posterous, and more.

What might surprise you, however, is that of all the social options available to marketers, blogs are indicated as the one area that will see the greatest increase in activity in 2012. Why would this be? Shouldn’t blogs be the one area that would see the LEAST amount of growth, since there are other newer shinier social sites popping up all the time? You’d think so, but you’d be wrong.

Businesses must recognize the extensive list of benefits that come as a result of maintaining a relevant and up-to-date blog. Blogs are one of the most effective ways to convey what your brand is REALLY all about. What you talk about, and how you talk about it, gives your readers a very personal insight in to what the culture of your business is. It sheds light on what the core values and beliefs are in your organization by addressing what you stand for, how you view issues facing your customers, and how open your business is to talking about what’s going on behind the logo.

In addition to the obvious ‘branding’ benefits that come with maintaining a blog, there are many other benefits that might not be apparent at first glance. Not the least of which is the boost you can achieve in organic search traffic. You see, it’s most likely that your main website is optimized for a certain collection of keywords. These are typically your brand name, specific product names, and product or service types. However, when writing blog posts you create an entirely new batch of content that answers completely different types of search queries.

While your public website might be optimized for terms or things like ‘computer repair’, or ‘flower arrangements’, your blog posts will start to appear in search results because of specific questions that they answer. For example, if we use the ‘flower arrangements’ product/business type, you might write a blog post about ‘Most Popular Spring Flowers for Weddings’. Now, this blog post would appear in the search results for much more specific questions about that particular topic, like “what kind of flowers should i choose for a spring wedding?”. You’re not just showing up to sell ‘flowers’, you’re showing up to answer a particular call for help.

My experience has shown that searchers who find helpful content as a result of a more specific question, rather than just a product page appearing from a short keyword, are more likely to spend more time on the site READING the material that answers their questions. Through blog posts, you’re not just trying to sell them something; you’re trying to help them learn more about the topics that interest them. The goodwill that occurs through being genuinely helpful goes a long way to building relationships with your readers, so that when they do need to buy, you’re much more likely to be their first choice.

The big bold benefits of blogging for business will come in varying degrees, based on the approach you take. The more you do, the benefits grow exponentially. If you’re simply using it as a press release newsfeed, don’t expect much in terms of results. If you’re using it to reach out, to answer questions, to offer help, and to provide added value for your readers then your hard work will pay off. Let’s just hope that for the sake of readers everywhere that the increase in efforts of businesses in 2012 will be of the more ‘helpful’ variety.

This article originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

January 12, 2012

The January Social Checklist – 9 simple things you need to do NOW for 2012

by Jonathan Barrick

2011 was a tremendous year in the world of social communications. We saw the emergence of several new big players in social networks like Google+, Instagram and Pinterest. We also saw massive increases in the use of social by businesses, and a dramatic shift in the way we all interact online.

2012 is undoubtedly poised to continue down this path, and now is the perfect time to make a few simple but powerful tweaks to your online social presence. Here’s a handful of tips that can help you get off to a strong start in 2012!

1 – Consistent profiles

Make sure all of your personal profiles across all the social sites you use are consistent. It should be easy for your Twitter followers to identify you on LinkedIn at a glance, and across all other networks that you participate in. In addition, doing this will also tighten up how you present your personal brand.

2 – Reserve your usernames

You don’t need to use every new social site that starts up, but you never know which ones are going to be huge, so get in early on every site you hear about and register your account. This way you make sure to reserve the same username across all the networks out there, just in case. Again, the key is consistency.

3 – Get the apps

If you don’t have all the apps for all the networks you use, get them now. Easy access to your networks and real-time monitoring are crucial to making sure that you’re not missing anything.

4 – Set up your alerts

Google Alerts, TweetAlarm, and other notification services are extremely valuable to keep you in the know when the conversations turn to you or your company. And don’t forget that you can also use them for any topic that you’re interested in or passionate about. It doesn’t have to be all work all the time.

5 – Link to everywhere from everywhere

You should be able to get to any of your networks easily from your profiles. Some make this easier than others, but at the very least you should make sure that your main ‘hub’ of activity is linked to all your profiles, and all your profiles link to your main hub.

6 – Make a list of ‘Superstars’

We all have a group of individuals that we consider to be the best of the best. If you haven’t already done this, create a special list dedicated solely for those people on your favourite networks so that you can easily browse through the latest stuff posted and shared by your ‘superstars’.

7 – Register for key events

Don’t wait until the last minute to sign up for those events that you really want to attend. Register now, and make the commitment. The last thing you want is to miss out on an event that could be a great opportunity to learn and network with other awesome people.

8 – Plan out your essential reading

Check your ‘Superstars’ list for any upcoming books they may be authoring, or anything they may recommend that suits you, and make sure you add them to your reading list for the year. This also counts for blogs that you may stumble across as well. Make sure to keep your list up-to-date as you go!

9 – Choose your key metrics

Identify a handful of metrics that you will track throughout the year that will give you ACTIONABLE information you can use to improve. Everything you do has an impact, but being able to identify WHAT that impact was, and what it means for your brand or business is the key to making positive changes and adjustments as you go.

There you have it! A few simple tips that anyone can use. Hopefully you found at least one or two things here that can help you in 2012, and beyond!

This article originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

December 29, 2011

For Auld Lang Syne – 5 Resolutions to Help Make Social Media Better

by Jonathan Barrick

Forget those stereotypical resolutions like losing weight, learning ballroom dance, joining a book club, or taking up piano lessons. This year you can make a real difference by choosing one of these simple, easy-to-follow resolutions that will make unicorns dance, kittens smile, and rainbows shoot out of your ears.

1 – I will never send a Twitter Auto-DM from this moment forward.

The auto-DM was a bad idea from day 1. People still do it. If you’re one of them, then this is the resolution for you!

2 – I will not do anything for the sole reason of ‘raising my Klout score’.

Doing stuff to raise your Klout score only benefits you. There are hundreds of other more worthwhile things you can do to benefit your entire community. Do those instead.

3 – I will not unfollow people simply because they didn’t follow me back.

Really? If you only followed someone because you hoped they’d reciprocate, what are you really trying to accomplish? Follow because you WANT to, and BE followed because THEY wanted to.

4 – I will include a personal message on every invitation to connect on LinkedIn.

Where do I know you from? Why do you want to connect with me? Who ARE you? Blind LinkedIn invites are a really quick way to get the recipient familiar with the location of the ‘Decline’ button.

5 – I will not be ‘too busy’ for my community.

Did someone ask you a question? Answer. Did someone comment on your blog? Respond. Did someone ask for your opinion? Reply. Do you want your community to think you are awesome? Then BE AWESOME.

‘We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne.’ Happy New Year to you all!

Jonathan on Google+

December 14, 2011

Retrospect – My 5 Favourite Personal Blog Posts from 2011

by Jonathan Barrick

2011 has been a fascinating year for Marketers, and for me especially. Businesses everywhere are opening their eyes to the inescapable truth that social communications are now essential for success, and with this change comes a tremendous shift in the way businesses conduct themselves and communicate with their communities. Looking at the usage stats, this is hardly surprising.

Social communications are altering the way we do everything. Facebook, as the largest social network, has ingrained itself in to the daily life of virtually everyone in North America, in one form or another. Even if you personally don’t have an account (which seems highly unlikely), everyone around you does. We are ALL impacted in some way by social communications, and to deny it is simply naive. It’s changed the way we keep in touch with those in our lives. It’s changed how we express happiness and how we make our outrage known. It’s changed how we think about our personal privacy, and what our rights are.

It’s changed our culture.

Throughout the year, I’ve stumbled across hundreds of excellent insights written by hundreds of brilliant people. I thought about scouring my Twitter archive and digging up a handful of the most potent articles from the year, but I quickly realized that this would be a nearly impossible task. There’s simply too much good stuff to sort through. So, I thought I’d just go through my own stuff and choose a handful of my favourite articles that were no doubt inspired by all that great stuff. It’s an easy compromise, I suppose, but I’m ok with that.

So, here’s a short list of some of my own personal blog posts that I’m proud of this year. They’re not necessarily the most ‘commented on’, or the ‘most shared’ posts I wrote, but they’re the ones that really resonated with me when I wrote them. I hope you enjoy them!

1 – The Twitterized Classroom

This article looks at how I attempted to use social communications to enhance the learning in a college classroom setting. Social media is stereotypically looked at as nothing more than a pervasive distraction by teachers, but I think the results of this might surprise you!

2 – Social Strategies for Uncommon Businesses

This article was written for all those companies who look at Social Media and think “I get how it works for Starbucks, but what am I supposed to do for MY business??” There’s a lot of different options and approaches, so this is intended to help you choose where to begin.

3 – Powerful Brand Experiences – The Story of Two Coffee Shops

I get a bit nostalgic in this one. I look at how brand-building goes beyond a logo or Pantone colour and consists of a complete sensory experience. My own experiences with two fantastic coffee shops illustrate just how strong these connections can be.

4 – 3 Lessons About Social Media Learned From Transformers

This one was fun. Inspiration can be drawn from anywhere, and therefore anything can be turned in to an analogy. Here I take a few anecdotes from the classic ‘good robots vs. evil robots’ battle for the universe that helped define my childhood.

5 – Getting a Head-Start Through LinkedIn

Historically, your career began on graduation day. Now? It begins the moment you set foot on campus for the first time. The connections you make, the activities you participate in, the internships you take, and the faculty you impress are all part of building your ‘personal brand’.

Well, there you have it! 2011 was a tremendous year in marketing, and I foresee 2012 being even better! This ‘social’ roller coaster hasn’t even crested the first hill yet, and I’m pretty sure we’re in for one heck of a ride next year!

Jonathan on Google+

December 5, 2011

The Twitterized Classroom – Bringing ‘social’ in to the curriculum.

by Jonathan Barrick

I recently taught a Marketing Strategies class at my alma mater, Georgian College, for their Snow Resort Operations program. I was tasked with injecting more life in to the curriculum and making sure that students got as much exposure to the current state of marketing as possible. Hence, a great deal of time was spent discussing the applications and, more importantly, the implications of social communications for business. It was at this time that an idea was formulated to bring social media in to the classroom. Not just in discussion or in a slideshow, but in real-time and with student participation.

I made it clear at the beginning of the course that usage of social communications during class would not only be accepted, but actively encouraged. I wanted them to feel comfortable with the fact that if they hear something that resonates with them: Share it. Post it to your wall, Tweet it, whatever. There are a few reasons I encourage them to do this:

1 – It reinforces their learning: If they feel the desire to share something, it’s far more likely that they’ll remember it.

2 – It’s permamently archived: Once you put something out there, it’s there forever.

3 – It’s easily searchable: Whether they need to find the info again to study from, or a friend/classmate wants to use it as a reference, it’s easily findable.

4 – It helps them start to build up their personal brand: By sharing the stuff that they agree with, disagree with, or have an opinion about, they begin to showcase what their business personality is. The more they share, the easier and more clear it is for others to know what you’re all about.

The second step I took to incorporate “social” in to the class material was to co-ordinate a special event with @samfiorella and the team at @senseimarketing who manage the #bizforum weekly Twitter chat. I proposed a ‘special edition’ of the #bizforum chat that would occur during class hours and would focus on topics relevant to Social Media usage in the tourism/recreation industry.

This concept of conducting a live Twitter chat during class with some of the top business minds in Social Media provided several benefits for everyone involved:

a) The students got to see what Twitter (and all types of Social Communications for business) was REALLY capable of, and it broke through the typical stereotypes associated with it

b) They got to interact with some of the most vibrant business professionals on the specific topic they were studying at that time

c) The Twitter participants got to discuss a topic that had not been previously discussed in any #bizforum chat

d) #bizforum and the team at @senseimarketing built up some great goodwill with the students, the college, and the Twitter community

Here’s a screencap of the Hashtracking report gathered at the conclusion of the in-class #bizforum Twitter chat:

Overall, the inclusion of a live Twitter chat in to the class curriculum was a tremendous success. It gave the class a newfound appreciation for just how powerful these new communications tools can be. It gave them an opportunity to directly communicate with and learn from dozens of experienced business professionals. It gave them real-time feedback on what’s happening in the Tourism industry TODAY – not just when the text book was written.

Social Media in the classroom doesn’t have to be the distraction that it is currently perceived to be. It can be an amazing enhancement to the learning environment, PROVIDED the instructor and institution chooses to use it as such. Of course, HOW you use social in the classroom is entirely dependent on a series of factors such as the nature of the topic, the students’ comfort level with social communications, and of course the existing school policies.

That being said, it is crucial that educators come to terms with the fact that social communications are not going away. Learning effective ways to engage in these channels early in the education process of the next generation of business professionals will be a major advantage once they enter the post-college world. I’d encourage all educators to consider the potential benefits of incorporating social communications in to the classroom in whatever capacity makes sense for their institution.

Special thanks to @samfiorella, @senseimarketing, and everyone who participated in the special edition #bizforum chat we conducted!

#bizforum regularly occurs every Wednesday evening at 8pm EST

This post originally written for http://crowdshifter.com

Jonathan on Google+

November 23, 2011

19 Signs Your Social Media Approach Might Suck

by Jonathan Barrick

You’ve seen them out there. You’ve shaken your head in disbelief. You’ve vowed never ever to be like them. And yet, every now and then, even for just a brief fleeting moment, we all have done at least ONE of these things that drive us nuts when we see other people do them. So sit back, sip your coffee, go through this list, have a laugh, and hopefully you’re not guilty of too many of them. Enjoy!

1 – Your profiles are empty.

Equivalent to: Showing up at a cocktail party wearing a fencing suit. Faceless, and with no distinguishing markings, nobody has any idea who you are, or why you’re there.

2 – Everything is linked and synchronized.

Equivalent to: Your telephone ringing all of your friends every time you make a call. Not everyone wants the same information, at the same time. Treat your social networks the same way.

3 – Everything is automated.

Equivalent to: Being a robot. You’re not a robot, are you?

4 – There are comments on your Facebook wall from weeks ago with no responses from you.

Equivalent to: Leaving halfway through a conversation with no warning. “Hey, where’d you go?”

5 – You follow people, then unfollow if they don’t follow back, then follow them again, then unfollow if they don’t follow back, Ad Nauseam.

Equivalent to: That little dog Chester from Looney Tunes who just wants to be tough Spike’s friend SOOOOOO BAD, he can’t event stand himself. “We’re friends, aren’t we Spike? Huh? Huh? Aren’t we? Aren’t we? I like Spike because he’s so big and strong. Yeah.”

6 – Your blog hasn’t been updated in a year.

Equivalent to: A one night stand. This relationship meant nothing to you, and I’ve moved on.

7 – YOU TYPE EVERYTHING IN ALL-CAPS AND USE MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!

Equivalent to: Shouting. All the time. About everything. Stop it. You’re hurting my ears and upsetting the kittens.

8 – #you #are #mired #in #hashtag #hell

Equivalent to: There’s no real-word equivalent to this phenomenon. If you talked like this in real life, you’d be beaten regularly.

9 – Your Facebook page loads to a splash landing graphic instead of your wall.

Equivalent to: Shoving a flyer in the face of every friend who stops by your house for a visit. Classy.

10 – 90% of your tweets preach engagement, but you let countless mentions go by unanswered.

Equivalent to: Do as I say, not as I do. We can all be guilty of this from time to time, but it’s a terrible idea to build your empire on it.

11 – Your LinkedIn page is a barren wasteland.

Equivalent to: Not updating your resume since 2001. Seriously? You haven’t done anything worth talking about in the last decade?

12 – Your profile picture is you, only from 30 years ago.

Equivalent to: I’m just as cool, hip, and trendy as I was in college. Also, that leather tie kicks ass.

13 – You announce your Klout score every time it goes up a notch.

Equivalent to: That guy on the golf course driving range who shouts ‘Did you SEE THAT!?!’ every time he hits one farther than 100 yards.

14 – All you can think of when asked about ‘good social media examples’ is your own stuff.

Equivalent to: “Everyone is stupid except me.” – Homer Simpson

15 – You never check or use Social Media on your mobile device.

Equivalent to: Putting a pie in the oven, and then leaving the house for three hours. No, you don’t need to stare at it until it’s done, but you need to check on it regularly so it doesn’t burn. Nobody likes burnt pie.

16 – When a new social network rolls around, your default response is ‘That’s stupid.”

Equivalent to: Look at that idiot, Henry Ford. Everyone knows the REAL money is in horse diapers.

17 – You use different names/handles, different descriptions, and different vanity URLs on each social media channel.

Equivalent to: Multiple-personality disorder. Seriously, which one ARE you?

18 – You change your profile picture on an hourly basis.

Equivalent to: Constantly changing clothes and hairstyles. It’s annoying, and no one can figure out why you’re doing it.

19 – You flat-out beg for followers, likes, and retweets.

Equivalent to: Ooooh! Ooooh! Pick me! Pick me! Pleeeeaaaaassse?!?

Can you think of any to add to this list that I’ve missed? Let’s hear ‘em!

Jonathan on Google+