To Tweet, or Not to Tweet?

You can’t turn on the radio or read the newspaper without hearing some mention of Twitter, one of the fastest growing social networking sites, allowing short posts comprised of 140 character limits.

The question on everyone’s mind is ‘What is Twitter and why should I care?’
I can’t make your mind up on if you should care, but I can at least provide some insight.

Myths and Mysteries
My first reaction to Twitter was an absolute “NO”. I could see no reason for anyone to know what I was doing at all times. Don’t get me wrong, I love the social networking sites like LinkedIn, MySpace, and Facebook, but I don’t want everyone knowing what I am doing at all times. That is a whole new level of stalking that I am not ready for. (You CAN end sentences with prepositions. Your teacher was old and lied to you.) But, being too quick to judge, I found out that Twitter does not have to be the ultimate stalking tool. You don’t have to be the self-centered ‘Twit’ who posts about their daily grind!

How Can Twitter Help Me?
As I added valuable friends, which I consider as professionals in my industry and peers whose opinions I trust, I realized that their posts were not a 24hr fest of ‘Naptime over- now it is time for a trip to Half Price Books.’ Ok, so one of you DID post that, but I didn’t mind. Read the rest of this entry »

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The generational effect on social media – Our youngest generation sets the tone while the rest of us struggle to engage

The year you were born has a profound effect on how well you ‘get’ social media, and how comfortable you feel communicating through its numerous channels. The generations—Baby Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y—all perceive and employ social media in markedly different ways. Understanding how these generations grew up sheds light on why this is so.

Baby Boomers. Most Baby Boomers simply don’t get social media. And why should they? Born at least 50 years ago, Boomers grew up when many telephones were shared party lines; when calling long distance required operator assistance and was saved for Sunday afternoons (reserved for the few family members living out of town); when all your friends lived in your neighborhood and you went to their house to talk with them; when television was black and white, had only three stations, and only broadcast during the day; when letters were written regularly; when essay test questions were answered by handwriting in ‘blue books’; where the library was for conducting research; and record players spun 45s of Elvis embodying the breathtaking new sound of rock ’n’ roll. Read the rest of this entry »

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10 Basic WordPress Plugins for a Business Blog

Every blogger you speak with has his or her favorite plugins. And with something like a bazillion out there (OK, so I exaggerate, but not by much), you can find a plugin that will allow you to do just about anything you desire. Here are the ten basic WordPress plugins that I start with when I create custom blogs for my clients.

1. Askimet: a mandatory plugin, Askimet checks your comments and flags them as spam. (If you don’t have this one, go get it now, install it, and then come back and finish reading this post).
2. All in One SEO  Pack: Out-of-the-box SEO for your WordPress blog.
3. Google Analyticator: Adds the necessary JavaScript code to enable Google’s Analytics.
4. Google XML Sitemaps: generates a sitemaps.org compatible sitemap of your WordPress blog (supported by Ask.com, Google, MSN Search, and YAHOO).
5. SEO Friendly Images: automatically adds alt and title attributes to all your images, making them w3C/xHTML valid.
6. StatPress: gives you real time stats for your blog
7. Theme Test Drive: allows you to safely test drive any theme while visitors are using the default one. You can even preview the new theme via thumbnail.
8. Twitter Tools: provides a complete integration between your WordPress blog and Twitter. You can bring your tweets into your blog and pass your blog posts to Twitter.
9. Tweet This: adds a “Tweet This Post” link to every post and page. Don’t worry, it will shorten your URL in advance, eating up only 19 of 140 characters.
10. Event Calendar: helps you manage events as an online calendar that you can display in multiple ways.

What WordPress plugins are part of your standard installation? Let us know about your favorites in the comments.

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Know your user’s technology level

I have a client that develops software for managing specialized functions in the travel industry. Their software development team produced a video contrasting an early version of their software with their newest release. They wrote and produced a terrific movie. They asked me to help produce a nice distribution disk using artwork they had produced. This couldn’t be easier. All I needed to do was design a simple DVD “label” that my burner’s LightScribe labeling technology would etch into the DVD. They would burn the movie to the DVDs using their equipment.

The first DVD I labeled would not play reliably. It worked fine on their Macs, not on their PCs or stand-alone DVD players. I burned a new disk burning both the movie and the label. This disk worked on their stand-alone players, Macs, and most PCs, but not all. Read the rest of this entry »

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Social Media Sessions at Technical Communication Summit ’09

The Technical Communicator’s Guide to Social Media

What should technical communicators be doing to harness the power of social media and social networks? Ninety-nine percent of the Baby Boomers don’t get it; many of the 30- and 40-somethings understand it; and I guarantee you that every one of the under-30 crowd gets it and uses it. So what are you doing to help your company encourage customer contributions to formal product documentation, and how can the concepts of tagging and ratings be incorporated into formal content to improve the user experience with documentation?

Two sessions at the STC Summit in Atlanta GA, will examine social media. On Monday, 4 May, Jenny Redfern and Lori Fisher present Social Networking: Improving Effectiveness and Demonstrating Strategic Value. Find out how Twitter, TWiki, blogs, and other social media matter for managers. Learn how technical communicators can use social networking technologies to improve internal processes and products.

On Tuesday, 5 May, Leonor Ciarlone presents Is Social Media at the Tipping Point? As technical communicators embrace social media and collaboration, we need to provide specific value and ROI to make the business case for adoption. This session highlights recent studies showing that the acceptance and use of social media and collaboration is on the rise.

More details about the STC Technical Communication Summit, 3–6 May, can be found on the STC website. The early bird deadline has been extended to 21 April. The early bird discounted rate is $795, which is $300 less than the onsite registration rate of $1,095. Split payments are accepted. Scholarships are available to members affected by the economic downturn.

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