Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Ryan Ruggiero, a CNBC assignment desk editor in New York with a relatively modest 307 followers, sent out a tweet that helped spread a wildfire of business news online:
(Charlie Gasparino, Ruggiero's CNBC colleague, first announced the news on TV.) As news organizations around the world prepared full reports, analysis and commentary, Ruggiero's message flew around Twitter. The 140-character format makes Twitter an excellent headline service, as other stories have shown. People who would wait until later to get the full story read and sent along the headline as the news was immediately retweeted.
Twitter's advanced search shows that, in Charlotte, more than 50 Twitter users sent out tweets announcing the Lewis news to thousands, within an hour of CNBC breaking the news.
Within two hours of the story breaking, 450 different stories about Lewis retiring were online. The Google News graph below shows the spike of the number of different news sources covering the story.
As happens online, commentary instantly jumped into the breaking news. Huffington Post's slideshow of "The 7 Most Awkward Ken Lewis Faces" made the rounds on Twitter right away.
"I do know who created the poll," said Farmer, who runs Bumbalabs in Palo Alto. (He lives a few blocks from Facebook's offices in Silicon Valley.) Farmer would not name the creator of the poll, preferring to let the Secret Service handle that. But did say the person does not live in the Southeast of the United States. He also suggested that this was "one person who created one poll" and that this was not a big conspiracy. "This kind of thing happens all the time," he said of objectionable content online.
Farmer, who said he worked for the Obama campaign in last fall's election, also said "95 percent voted no" in the poll, taken by more than 700 Facebook users. "Like 12 people voted yes," Farmer said.
Facebook pulled the poll Monday morning when the contents were discovered, Farmer said. "In some ways, I was the last to know," he said. Farmer checks any user complaints about polls every day, he said. Thousands of polls are created by Facebook users every day, he said.
"People shouldn't put too much stock in the crazy stuff people write on the internet," he said. But he added: "There is this strange thing happening with the president where some people feel this hostility for him, and they're expressing it publicly."
The disturbing news of a poll on Facebook asking if President Obama "should be killed" points out the real questions around social media best practices and ethics. A developer created the poll, which was taken by more than 700 users. Choices in the poll were Yes, Maybe, If He Cuts My Health Care, and No. The results are not available, Facebook says, and the poll has been taken down and is being probed by the Secret Service.
Organizations like ESPN and, most recently, The Washington Post, have been busy composing restrictions on how employees use social media. It's understandable that organizations want to provide guidelines for employees and draw boundaries for how social media differentiates from their own mainstream media. (In the eyes of The Washington Post, staffers should post to social media as if their bylines were attached. I disagree.)
Since when have communications professionals been more concerned with covering their backsides than with using new tools to serve their audiences, report on the bad guys -- like creepy poll developers -- and provide ethical and laudable communications in the new forums? Preventative measures will fail against social media -- that river of free-flowing information is too strong for any dam. But real best practices, which use these tools for good, can ride the flow of that river. We need to provide good information, not focus on what might go wrong.
Some of the earliest and most crafty users of social media have been doing some of the worst stuff. The Obama poll isn't an isolated incident on Facebook (although it may be the worst). There are four polls that ask Which Serial Killer Are You? There are spam bots and sex bots and phony accounts and crooked apps. The problem isn't Facebook and Twitter. The same old hate and avarice have found new playgrounds. Fear and outrage that blame the messenger are, as always, missing the point.
The best way to address wrongdoing is to do right. The real ethical obligation of media companies is to provide good information, otherwise the creeps lead the way.
Corporations -- especially media outlets -- need to get beyond their fear of getting caught with a goofy tweet and start leading by example. We need to be proactive in communicating with ethics, not preventative in censoring employees. Expose the bad guys, report in new ways, and show the world how this new media can be used right.
The real best practices are not "how to protect my company." We need a Society For Social Media Ethics that covers more than one industry.
Rules that show how journalists or PR people should behave, and focus on what they shouldn't do, are missing the point. We need something that shows how all users can best use Facebook and Twitter and the rest, and media are the best people to provide that.
Communications people need to look beyond what media should not do, and start leading by example in a new way.
So there I was, skulking around Bobcats media day at the arena today, being a non-sportswriter, when I hear team captain Gerald Wallace say to a team staffer something along the lines of:
I've given four video interviews so far and I've said exactly the same thing. They're all the same.
I whipped out my iPhone, asked Wallace if he'd like to do something a little different, and we made the video below. I think he got a kick out of it. I know I did. It's fun to see these guys in a slightly different light.
I also spent a little time with Raymond Felton, who told me how he learned to handle the ball: By dribbling in the grass and dirt of the little town where he grew up.
On the purely social media side, fans should get a kick out of this: Nazr Mohammed sometimes retweets his fans. "If somebody says something good, I send it back out," said the big man.
Rookie Gerald Henderson told me likes Twitter because he can speak directly to the fans. The young man is very well-spoken, I must say.
The Bobcats will see the king of NBA tweeting, Shaquille O'Neal as the Bobcats play the Cavaliers in Charleston on Oct. 10. Think the team will let me ride down on the bus and tweet what I see?
Invitations to add apps, attend events, join groups and "fan" business pages are choking Facebook with so much clutter that it can be hard to find your real friends. "Games, apps and polls are fine. Just don't ask me to join / participate!" writes a Facebook user from Winnsboro, S.C.
Lets hack through some of that right now.
Apps are potentially the worst, because they can suck privacy information right out of your account and into the outside developer's database. If you're invited to join an app you don't like, you can block that app and not be invited again. On the requests page -- where you're directed when you click on your request notifications on the home page -- click "block this application" under the invitation. If you get a lot of applications from a certain friend, you can block all application invites from that friend. You'll see that fine print beneath the app invitation, too. If you like this friend, feel free to send them this in a personal message:
I like connecting with you on Facebook, but please don't send me any more application requests. Outside apps have privacy risks I don't like, and I don't care for the invites, either. I'm glad you're having fun with this. Thanks a lot. To see more on this, go to http://bit.ly/3xf4PF
That link is to this blog post, and might explain things a little. I don't mind being the bad guy, and you could be saving many of your friends the same aggravation. You can also hide an application with a large logo so you don't have to see it on your wall. (Anything with "farm," "mafia" or "vampire" in the name comes to mind.) Just hover your cursor next to the logo when it appears on your wall, and click hide. There you'll also see the option to hide the friend who uses this app. Tempting, isn't it? Let's talk about that for a sec.
There are three layers of distancing yourself from an annoying friend on Facebook: Hide, unfriend (techinically, "remove connection"), and block (which prevents someone from even finding you on Facebook. You can find that on your Privacy settings.) I'm going to suggest again that you instead address the behaviors that are bothering you about the friend. If they're really a friend, the brief, uncomfortable exchange could be well worth it in the long run.
On the subject of applications, there's a chore many of you need to do, now. Facebook recently added privacy controls for how much you reveal to outside developers of applications. Take note: We're talking here about apps you don't use. These are apps your friends use, but that can access your privacy info. If the very idea of this alarms you, do this: Go to Settings at the top of the Facebook page (yours or the home page), click Privacy, Applications, Settings. There you see a bunch of check boxes where you choose what info your friends can see "through applications," and therefore what privacy info this developer can see and use -- like your religion, who you're in a relationship with and whether you're online. I chose to shut a lot of that down. For more on this issue, see here.
At the bottom of this page, you can see which friends you've blocked from inviting you to use apps. Ask yourself, do you want to be on any of your friends' pages here?
Requests to attend events come in by the truckload, it seems. I rarely go to these things, but it seems I have to deal with them all the time. From the requests page, you can click "Remove from my events" under an event. It's not clear to me if this prevents you from being invited to it again. I have read online that that's not the case. There are no settings to prevent receiving invitations to certain events, or from certain friends. There should be, and I think there will be soon. In the meantime, feel free to send a persistent friend this:
I like connecting with you on Facebook, but please don't send me any more invitations to events, or to fan a business or join a group. I'm glad you're finding this worthwhile, but I don't wish to take part. Please remove me from these invitations lists and practices. I like to see what you're doing, and don't want to "hide" you. Thanks a lot. To see more on this, go to http://bit.ly/3xf4PF
You can also choose the option Ignore All from the requests page. (You're taken there when you click "See all" next to Requests on the home page.) You can ignore all the requests, getting rid of them, or ignore a whole category, like applications requests. But again, this doesn't go to the source of the reuests. I'd reach out to that friend.
Sara Woodmansee of Charlotte seemed to sum up how many of us feel when she wrote: "Agree about quiz, poll and apps requests. Also had one person who sent me their fan page 'suggestion' about 8 times! I ignored it the first 7, why would i do it now?"
You don't want to be the person she's talking about. If you sincerely want this particular friend to attend this event, join this group or fan this business, reach out to them directly, and have a conversation about it.
Don't send invitation spam on Facebook. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Here's a hilarious video on Facebook etiquette suggested by my friend, Bill Benac. (We studied social networking together at Stanford.) It's not exactly what we're discussing, but is very funny. Enjoy!
What's interesting though, is that the pendulum swings back the other way. Congressman Wilson actually received a significant jump in fund-raising after his interruption of President Obama's address last week. (See video, below.) But only after he was swiftly condemned on Twitter and Facebook.
And West's appearance on Jay Leno's new show Monday night cast the rapper in a far more favorable light because he almost broke down when Leno asked what his mother would've thought about the award show interruption. More than 18,000 have watched a YouTube video of the Leno interview in 14 hours after the NBC broadcast. (See below, middle.)
Williams' verbal attack of a line judge at the U.S. Open might prove more difficult to defend. But that didn't stop the tennis star from urging her million Twitter followers to watch her on "Good Morning America" this morning. In the interview, Serena said about the line judge she screamed at that, later, "I would've liked to give her a big hug." She also seemed interested Tuesday morning in selling her new book. Will the outburst allow a positive pushback, letting her sell the book and, in the end, get more positive publicity? Irony: Serena's book is called "On The Line," when a foot fault sparked the whole outburst. (See the "Good Morning America" interview, bottom.)
Is the speed of negative reaction online to these public faux pas actually paying off for the instigators in the long run? Some thought Wilson's political career was permanently damaged last week, when he was roundly criticized for his behavior, seen as disrespectful of the president. But the incident has in some ways galvanized his support. (And sparked a slew of ads for him on Google and Facebook.)
Does this mean we're stumbling into a trap, and that the bad behavior that gets so much of our unfavorable attention immediately only proves a few days later that there is no bad publicity?
Capt. Sully, the hero of the Hudson River plane landing, is giving away 20 signed copies of his new book on Facebook.
Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger has been hailed as a great hero of aviation since his safe ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 -- which was bound for Charlotte -- on Jan. 15. When both engines failed, Sullivan landed the plane in New York's Hudson River. All 155 people aboard survived.
Spokesman Alex Clemens posted a Facebook "note" -- an application that allows users to share text -- for Capt. Sully, who does not have a personal Facebook page, just after noon Monday. Hours later, close to 2,000 people had commented on the book giveaway -- and that does not
count how many simply entered the contest.
See details of the giveaway on Facebook, here. (It is required that winners be a fan of Capt. Sully's on his Facebook "fan page" to win.) Click here to go to that page. If you have trouble reaching either link, perhaps because you're not already signed into Facebook, try searching for "Sully Sullenberger." The page is also becoming somewhat overwhelmed by traffic, as news of the giveaway goes viral.
The book, "Highest Duty: My Search For What Really Matters," goes on sale Oct. 13.
Colleen Mainwaring Brooks of Weddington was one of many Charlotte-area Facebookers to cheer the book news online Monday. Asked by The Observer about her support of Sullivan she posted, "I would love to have a signed copy. Capt. Sully is a true American hero."
The giveaway is not the first social media connection to the dramatic flight. Some of the first news reports of the crash were on Twitter, including a widely circulated photo tweeted by a witness.
Not in a fantasy football league yet? Facebook has one that you can view right on your page, with drafts still going on all the time. Big fan of a certain team? If you get their app, the logo goes on your Facebook page, you can taunt opponents, and take trivia quizzes. Wondering how to tweet other fans during the game? There's a very cool way to do that throughout the game. Not a part of the biggest Panthers fans group? We'll take you there.
This is the first big weekend of football season, and the first big football season for social media. Every other Facebook post seems to be about somebody's team. Charlotte's Jeff Kennedy seemed to speak for many when he posted on Facebook: "my wife is sad... she is a college football widow... I watched 8 hours straight.... just wait till the NFL starts tomorrow!" Also posting about the Panthers this weekend were Bruce Goldinger, Nan Gray, and more Charlotteans than I can possibly name.
While the Southeastern Conference and NFL have drawn up confusing plays about social media policies, fans have found that football is the perfect thing to tweet and Facebook about. Here's where to click to make sure you're part of the action online.
Facebook has 1,700 football-related applications, but some are for soccer. The most popular NFL app is Fantasy Football 2009, which lets you play fantasy football right on Facebook. More than 730,000 people play this. If you're not in a fantasy league yet and you're a Facebook user, it's worth looking into. Sports Illustrated and Citizen Sports are behind it. Note: On a lark I invited Anthony Foxx and John Lassiter to join my league. I'll let you know if the mayoral candidates play.
The Carolina Panthers Fans application is very popular in Charlotte, with more than 9,300 monthly users. (I was stunned to see 139 Facebook friends had installed it.) Lets you play quizzes, get into discussions, post photos. Looks like a healthy boosters app. There's also a Carolina Panthers group, which doesn't require you to install anything or risk privacy information. About 11,000 belong to it. And you can friend the TopCats, which sounds fun to me.
There are many NFL apps, including What NFL Player Are You? This quiz is very popular, but I'm always wary about privacy information. The NFL has its own app, which lets you put your team's logo on your page, and play a little game throughout the year where you "throw passes to your friends online." It might not be as lame as it sounds. (How's that for an endorsement?)
What about Twitter? You can obviously include #panthers in messages as a way to connect with other fans. But during a game, if you want to discuss strategy, try using the hashtag #panthersshsould. Yes, it's long. But it's clear what the discussion is: A forward-looking argument about what play should be called or strategy used. That way, you're not just reacting, and can show how smart you are. This can elevate the conversation a little beyond "Go Panthers!"
Finally, if you want to trash talk to the league's rudest fans, you can sneak into the Philadelphia Eagles' online huddle by tweeting the hashtag #Eagles.
In a few days I'll have a similar post on college football on the social web. To help you get psyched for today's actual, here's a great Panthers highlight video.
Skipper Beck asked me that years ago, when he saw my lousy little compact. The Charlotte businessman was killed in a plane crash Friday morning. He was a generous guy, who seemed to give without a second thought. I once saw him give millions to charity in one night. And I know he gave a tremendous amount of his time to help organize charity events.
But I wasn't asking him for a car. (And my editors, with all their silly rules, would not have allowed me to accept it.) I was asking him to take my car -- a 2001 Toyota Echo, and drive it for a weekend. Beck was a second-generation luxury car dealer, and my proposal was to switch cars for a story. My car was valued at $3,500. His top-of-the-line Mercedes at $86,000.
He did it, even though his wife, Lynn, wouldn't ride in my filthy little jalopy. "What is all this at my feet?" she asked, kicking around some garbage. (It turned out to be my divorce papers.) "I'm sorry," Lynn said, climbing back out. "I really do think this car will ruin my dress." (She was probably right.)
But Skipper stayed in the car. He took it to Phillips Place, where he found that "The valet parkers didn't exactly jump off their stools for the chance to park it." For the first time in a long time, the car Skipper was driving did not command attention. "This would be a good car for someone trying to avoid being noticed by the authorities," he said.
He seemed to have a ball doing the story. After that, I always considered Skipper a friend, even though I never did get to know him well. But I will miss his sense of fun and generosity. I always thought of him, first and foremost, as a good sport and a kind man.
The entire story is below. The photo above, of Skipper begging not to have to drive my car, ran with the article.
TOYOTA FOR A BENZ? GIMME THE KEYS! I GO FROM BEING INCOGNITO TO DRIVING IN THE LAP OF LUXURY IN 5 SECONDS
Friday, September 1, 2006
It all started when Skipper Beck called me up and said, "How'd you like to drive the 2007 Mercedes 550 S Class for the weekend?" (My job is such a hassle.) That's a $90,000 car, an elegant sedan presented to winners of PGA golf championships. It has a 380 horsepower engine, a 14-speaker surround sound stereo system, computerized everything and an all-leather interior. It's like a race car mated with Donald Trump's living room. "Sure!" I said to Skipper. And then my twisted mind roared up and crashed into the whole situation. "If you'll drive my car." I drive a 2001 Toyota Echo. It cost $12,000 when I bought it six years ago. The engine light's been on for five months. My ultra-basic model didn't even come with a clock, so I jammed an alarm clock into the dash. My car's main special feature is, you have to turn off the air-conditioner when you turn left. Skipper, the owner of Beck Imports in Charlotte, is a second-generation car dealer. He's been surrounded by classy cars his whole life. On a Friday afternoon we traded cars, and traded worlds. "Is that a talking, computerized navigation system in the hand-polished wood dashboard?" I asked, peering into my new ride. "Is that an open bag of dog food in the back seat?" Skipper asked, peering into his. Now lemme just screech to a halt right here and make it very clear that this story is in no way an indictment of Toyotas. The Echo is my fourth straight Toyota, and I will probably buy more. (Skipper is a fan, too, for the record.) My particular no-frills car has just seen better days, and that's mostly my fault. (I haven't kept it up well.) When it was new, it was cute and round and shiny and white. But I parked it under a tree for a while. "It looks like a hard-boiled egg somebody rolled around in the dirt," was Skipper's first reaction. Lynn, Skipper's wife and co-chair of the upcoming Championships at the Palisades tennis tournament, warily climbed into the Echo's passenger seat. "What is all this at my feet?" she asked, kicking around some garbage. I looked in. "Hey, thanks!" I said. "You found my divorce papers!" "I'm sorry," Lynn announced, climbing back out. "I really do think this car will ruin my dress." (She was probably right: I have at times used the passenger seat as a napkin.) But Skipper stayed in the car. He took it to Phillips Place where he found that "The valet parkers didn't exactly jump off their stools for the chance to park it." For the first time in a long time, the car Skipper was driving did not command attention. "This would be a good car for someone trying to avoid being noticed by the authorities," he said. Meanwhile, I was discovering the Mercedes' power, and powers of seduction. I accidentally cut a guy off in traffic, but before he could demonstrate his knowledge of sign language, I was gone. "Sorry," I said, hitting the accelerator and feeling the big V-8 engine take off. "And bye." I carried on conversations with the female voice in the talking navigation system. (I actually got two real women in the car, too. Briefly.) I eased into the fully adjustable leather seat and floated over rough roads. I announced what radio station I wanted to hear - "88.7!" - and listened as the crystal-clear music surrounded me. And the hooks, I can not forget to tell you about the grocery bag hooks in the trunk. (Your plastic bags don't slop over!) More than anything else, it was the attention I got in the big, sleek, silver sedan. People looked to see who was behind the wheel of that fine automobile. And it was me! If Skipper was anonymous in my car, I was the opposite in his. I had arrived. But I also felt a little guilty. "With all the problems in the world right now associated with fossil fuel consumption, does anybody really need a car like this?" I asked myself. Then a really good song came on the stereo. I opened the sun roof, relaxed into the luxury and felt carried away by the power. I should've checked the rear view mirror for the conscience I left behind. At night, my worried mind caught up with me. I had to leave the Mercedes in the parking lot of my Dilworth apartment complex. I lay awake and worried: What if someone keyed the car? Or smashed a window? Or slashed the tires? Across town, Skipper had different concerns. "You know, that's not a bad little car," he told Lynn at home. "If he just took better care of it." On Monday morning, when many magic coaches turn back into pumpkins, it was time to return the Benz. I set the navigation system for Beck Imports, and had a last conversation with the little lady in the dashboard. As I pulled in, she said, "You have arrived at your destination." It sounded like, "Time to give back the dream, chump." I felt a little down. I felt a little confused. I wanted the big, beautiful car back. So I called famed psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers in her New York office. I really did. "Dr. Brothers, you've spent decades looking at the psychology of the rich and famous. Why did I love the status-symbol car so much?" "Jeff, people are drawn to power, and this is a very powerful car," she told me. "It's also a very expensive car, and anyone who looks at it can see that. We like to be looked at in awe, and that's what you're feeling. "But you also might find you're actually more comfortable in your little car. You don't have to live up to it. It's a reminder that you're comfortable being you." I'm back to sleeping soundly again. I have no fears that someone will break into my 2001 Toyota Echo. If you do, please take the dog food. My dog, Corky, has moved up to a luxury brand, with which he appears quite comfortable. 2007 S550 Mercedes sedan List price for base model: $86,175. 32-valve V-8 engine. 382 horsepower. 0-60 mph in 5.4 seconds. 16 mpg city, 24 mpg highway. Curb weight: 4,465 pounds. Special features include: Infrared-reflective glass; rain-sensing wipers; computerized control center for settings of audio, climate control, navigation, seat adjustments, telephone and other car settings; leather upholstery hand-fitted to each seat; hand-polished burl walnut wood trim on dash and doors. Jeff's 2001 Toyota Echo Estimated blue book value: $3,500. 16-valve 4-cylinder engine. 108 horsepower. 0-60 mph in ... we'll have to get back to you. 34 mpg city, 41 mpg highway. Curb weight: 2,078 pounds. Special features include: Alarm clock jammed into dashboard, have to turn off the air-conditioner to turn left.
The exclamation by Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., during President Obama's address Wednesday night bellowed across the social Web right away. Within two hours, three of the 10 most-tweeted phrases on Twitter were "You lie!", "Joe Wilson" and "R-S.C."
Thanks in large part to the deafening buzz online, Wilson’s Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, had raised nearly $500,000 as of 6:30 Thursday night, about 10 times his previous campaign funds, and more than twice Wilson's.
-- A Twitter search for "Joe Wilson" at midday Thursday revealed there had been 81 tweets in the past minute using that term. And that's only one way to call him up.
-- Thursday night 1,350 Facebook users had commented on the congressman's post on his page about his comments. But many Facebook users got the wrong guy, leaving notes for a political Joe Wilson -- a judge in Washington state.
-- A site popped up satirizing the demonization of Wilson in which you click and a different mock accusation appears each time: "Joe Wilson didn't refill your Brita pitcher." "Joe Wilson canceled Arrested Development."
-- On Facebook, where multi-media posting is easier (or at least more visible) users posted videos, photos, links to organizations and, of course, opinions. One user posted a link to the Wikipedia entry sneaked by censors soon after the televised speech. Note the last line in the intro blurb at the top. (Warning: May be offensive to some readers. Not responsible for content.)
-- One Facebook user in Charlotte, Michael Hernandez, posted: "It was a misunderstanding. Joe Wilson was shouting at Nancy Pelosi to bring him a MOON PIE. Who denies a man of his moon pie?"
Bottom line: When something like this happens -- a zeitgeist, a pop-culture moment, a "talker" -- we like to talk. Why wait for the latenight monologues when we can have our own?
If you wonder if politicians from somewhere besides South Carolina ever embarrass themselves, check out this YouTube fail by Rep. Baron Hill, D-IN.
OK, I think it's kind of cool that Allen Iverson announced on Twitter that he's signing with Memphis -- rather than the Bobcats. You do get the info directly from the source. But do wonder about his tweet beginning "God chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career." That's where a journalist's questions might add a little clarity.
Hosting N.C. Tech Association event tonight. Tweet questions to #NCTAevent. Great panel with expertise in privacy, networking, PR and search engine optimization. Panelists are Brandon Uttley, Heather Lipford, Fred Sexton and Lisa Hoffmann.
Love the site http://myparentsjoinedfacebook.com and the stories in the WSJ and Wash Post about hovering parents. I'm doing a story for Friday on Facebook etiquette -- although it's really more accurate to call them personal fouls, or red Faces. I got two egregious pieces of spam from FB friends in the past 24 hours. I mean, I'm tempted to out them in the paper. (But I won't.) Stories of your own? Let me know.
Gave my second interview to a journalist today about the Twitter directory, to a Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter. And got an email request for an interview from the Richmond paper. Interesting how much outside buzz it's getting. The goal is to create a visible, clear local directory for what can be a very confusing, global medium. If you aren't on it yet, good time to get in, here.
Invited to speak in NYC. Have a half-dozen talks coming up. And, ironically, I'm working on a big story on whether all the buzz around social media is warranted, and how to assess all this vs. e-mail and other major media innovations. There certainly is a lot of buzz. Let me know your thoughts.
Does Twitter make you dumber, and does Facebook make you smarter?
Not exactly, but the two social media sites affect the brain in opposite ways, a top researcher told The Observer on Monday after making headlines when she presented a study at an international conference.
Twitter's truncated, grammatically incorrect messages train our brains to under-perform, Dr. Tracy Alloway (pictured, right) said in a phone interview. In contrast, the elaborate social connections of Facebook stimulate the brain.
"There's a lot of evidence that some technology is good" for the brain, she said. "And some technology is bad for it."
As winner of the prestigious Joseph Lister Award from the British Science Association, Alloway presented a study on technology's impact on the brain on Sunday at the British Science Festival. Her research showed that students who took part in an elaborate memory game improved in academic and even IQ testing in just eight weeks. Intricate video games improve the brain's performance, as well, she said. But students who spent a lot of time text messaging have been shown in tests to decline academically, she said.
That's where she says the two very different social media sites come in. Twitter is a messaging forum that limits users to just 140 characters. Facebook is a more elaborate social realm that allows users to use language more fully, stay touch with people from different areas of their lives, and use multi-media and applications to vary the user's experience.
Alloway is an expert in "working memory" -- the ability not just to recall, but to effectively use information. One key to that is using language creatively. For instance, working crossword or Sudoku puzzles can stimulate the brain and prevent Alzheimer's.
"With Twitter, the character restriction means you have to really restrict what you want to say," she said. "Language isn't meant to be used that way."
But a variety of social connections, such as one develops and maintains on Facebook, has been shown to help performance on the job. Later in life, those rich social networks help keep seniors astute.
How does this play out in our daily lives? In many small ways, Alloway said.
"One real tip is, how do you use your breaks at work? If you're socializing at the water cooler, that helps working memory. If you're spending your free time texting or tweeting or watching a short video on YouTube, that hurts it.
"There's a lot of great technology, but you've got to use language. Otherwise, the brain says, 'I'm not using
this, so...'"
Local academic John McArthur of Queens University of Charlotte (pictured, right) said Twitter might get a bad rap in the media and in research circles.
"I think there is some negative attitude toward Twitter," said McArthur, a communications professor and social media expert. He pointed out that Twitter can be used to send links to more thorough articles. "I don't know that Twitter is meant to elicit deep thinking, but it can, if we connect it to other information on the internet."
And Alloway, who uses Facebook but not Twitter, allows that "there are always creative people" who might use Twitter poetically enough to grow their brains, 140 characters at a time. "If so, that would be worth another study," she said.
Informed of Alloway's opinions, Charlotte Twitter users rose to her poetic challenge Monday night. Jody Mace, who tweets under the name cltcheap tweeted:
Twitter is concise, but also can be nice. It requires that your verse remain short and terse.
And Steve Swanson of Rock Hill tweeted (under the name preacherskidd):
Twitter is littler. Only the smart can master the art to be short.
Social media is this era's rock 'n' roll. It's very cool, and it's filled with irritating noise. Some people are doing it like crazy, and other people think they're crazy.
Facebook is the Beatles: Sunny, likable, a common denominator. The new “I Want To Hold Your Hand” is “I Added You As A Friend.”
Twitter is the Rolling Stones. The messaging medium with a 140-character limit is darker, more cryptic and harder to love. The people who hated rock 'n' roll really hated the Stones. The people who hate social media really hate Twitter.
Which makes the cool kids sneer and say, “Good.”
Which brings us to Charlotte's cool kids. On Thursday I listed 10 Charlotte tweeters biz people should follow. Today, I'm going to add to your must-follow list. Here are the people who, when I see their tweets, I crank up the volume. They're ju
st good rock 'n' roll. I hope they give you satisfaction, too.
Want to get started on Twitter? I'll give a how-to primer in this space soon.
Some people on Twitter are just funny. WCNC producer Jeremy Markovich – who tweets under the name deftlyinane – is an enlightened snark. Ad man Jim Mitchem (top icon) also tweets with some healthy irony under the name smashadv. And the Charlotte guy who tweets under the name WadetoBlack (and prefers to leave his name at that) is just hilarious.
Who doesn't want some healthy (clinically and psychologically healthy) sex in their day? Here's a typical tweet from sexologist Becky Knight, who tweets under the name livingsex
uality: “Wish your wife was always in the mood? Think again...”
You can see inside an NFL player's life by following rhysjlloyd. The cool British Panther kicker actually opens up.
LisaHoffmann is one of the most popular Twitter personalities in Charlotte. See a video with her discussing Charlotte's Twitter community below.
Derek Kelley, (second icon) who tweets under the name DKelley31, is so honest that he's very cool. Young entrepreneur thejonwest – rocks Twitter. Twitter can be poetic, and I like the way creative guy nakedmedium makes up words. And a must-follow is Justin Ruckman (third icon) – jruckman. Buy stock in CLT Blog's chief NOW.
Want mommy cool? Tune into olgabow. Mom Olga Bowman really shows her feelings. If you want some cool-kid sneer to give your day attitude, follow the tweeter with the name prettyannoyed. Her screaming-baby icon is a clue to her tone. Can you be a cool kid and really into knitting? Apparently, yes. Follow MaggieHyde. And I love the brief Twitter bio of tiny AlexisAcosta: “I'm not short, I'm fun-size.” (Bottom icon)
OK, that's a baker's dozen, not 10.
Now, here's what I love about Twitter. The people who hate Twitter will rip me for writing this and wasting precious space and manpower in a newspaper on such noise. And the cool kids on Twitter will rip me for being mainstream media and not cool at all.
Speaking of those you should follow, do not forget to join Charlotte Business Professionals on LinkedIn. This group has boomed from during the recession, and now has nearly 4,500 members. It's a must for CLT biz buzz. Very active with many events. On Sept. 10, Chamber chief Bob Morgan speaks.
What's with the new corporate role of social media director? Duke Energy, Bank of America, Wachovia, Wells Fargo and other big companies either have one or are hiring one. Why?
"It's just like the early phase of the Web," says Brandon Uttley, (pictured, right) who built Web sites for many businesses at Charlotte-based Carbonhouse, and now helps ad agency Wray Ward implement
social media strategy for clients. "Companies are seeing competitors adopt social media, and they're realizing it's not going to go away."
Uttley, who has watched companies go through the hiring process, says they're looking for someone to set marketing strategy on social media, actually implement those tactics, and set policy guidelines within the company.
That last part can be tricky, says social media strategist Kathleen Hessert, who runs Charlotte's Sports Media Challenge, and has advised the Southeastern Conference, ESPN and Penn State.
"In a worst-case scenario, someone might say something on social media that amounts to a trade secret," Hessert says. More likely is a personnel matter being discussed on Facebook or Twitter, she believes. "If you have the right people in the right positions, that's not going to happen," Hessert says. "I'm recommending to every client we have and every prospect we have that they seriously consider hiring a director of social media."
This is kind of a fun thing BofA is doing online, including on Facebook: The big bank will give a buck to your favorite charity if you draw a design on a "footprint" for the Chicago Marathon. The completed digital footprints will be available online, and runners will run over them in the October race. “The advent of social networking and the nature of today’s on-the-go, connected consumer are fundamentally changing the marketplace," says Charlotte's Ray Bednar, global sponsorship marketing executive for Bank of America. Check it out here.
This video, of a Japanese family mixing their pets -- a large beetle and a French bulldog mom and puppy -- kills me. Watch what the puppy does when his mom finally gets the beetle off him.
