Librarian by Day » Social Tools

Monitor your brand

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:23:37 +0000

Carie Lewis has a great guide to monitoring your brand using iGoogle, it’s easy, free and most of us already have a Google account, plus it pulls all the information into one place.

She includes 5 different categories:

Brand – mentions of your name, including acronyms, misspellings, etc

Current – issues that people are talking about that involve you right now

Detractors – people you know don’t like you but talk about you

Competition – people in the same space as you

Staff – prominent people in your org, like your CEO

And includes a great list of places you should monitoring:

Google Alerts – I hope you know what they are and are already using them!

Filtrbox – a paid monitoring service to make sure we catch everything

Tweetmeme – tells you the most popular tweets about a subject

Twitter Search – shows tweets containing a certain keyword (we don’t use this anymore because we use Tweetdeck separately)

Technorati – shows blogs that mention certain keywords

Blogpulse – another blog monitoring tool

Digg – shows most popular articles on the web

Boardreader – shows forum posts by keyword

Some additional readings

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10 Golden Rules of Social Media

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:08:20 +0000

Webworker Daily has a great post on the 10 Golden Rules of Social Media Read the full post to get defitions of each

Respect the Spirit of the ‘Net

Listen

Add Value

Respond

Do Good Things

Share the Wealth

Give Kudos

Don’t Spam

Be Real

Collaborate

Social media tools are only that — tools. The real energy, spirit and power of social media is people. We are social media.

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Eternal September: Be Ready to Repeat Yourself. Again.

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:24:12 +0000

Last week I read this post on Seth Godin’s blog and loved it. I tweeted it hoping other people would pick it up. After reading Stephen Abrams post – What is Cloud Computing where he states

I’ve given a few talks lately and I was surprised to get a few questions about “what is cloud computing?” I guess I really do live in the bubble. Then again I have had my share of what is YouTube? eBay? iTunes? questions lately too.

I decided to devote a blog post to Eternal September, its the idea that every fall new freshmen show up and you need to teach them the ropes, rules, guidelines, etiquette all over again. New people show up on the internet everyday. People who don’t understand how blogs work or what Twitter is or why they would use an aggregator & RSS. It can be easy when talking amongst your cohorts to get caught in a bubble, when most of the people you interact with know what the cloud is and use Twitter everyday (or almost every day) you can forget that the majority of people don’t. If you’re like me, you like (or even love) the web and all the awesome things it can do. You probably want other people to do them too. It can be easy to forget how much you’ve learned, how far you’ve come and how much you know that others don’t. What you take for granted can be amazing, intimidating, daunting, foreign or just plain scary to new people. When you’re talking about the web, stop and explain The Cloud or Twitter, even if you think everyone already knows what it is and how to use it. People often feel dumb for asking. Do it with patience and understanding. Don’t just say how awesome it is, explain it in terms that matter to them, how they can use it, how it will save them time, how it will make their life better.

If you’re a leader or an expert or a presenter or even just a blogger you need to be prepared to teach the freshmen. They are looking to you for explanations and guidance. After all you are a senior. Similar Posts:

My Problem with LinkedIn

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:55:53 +0000

and online reputations in general.

I have a profile on LinkedIn (as I do on many social websites) because many people and blogs I think highly of have recommended it. Now I’ll be the first to admit I’m probably not using it right and therefore not taking advantage of it properly. Here is something I noticed recently while updating my profile.

This is a section of my profile showing my position at MRRL. Three people wrote me recommendations (which I appreciate but I’m not sure what good they do)

After these kind people wrote wonderful things about me I can change my position anyway I like. In this case I made myself Princess of Georgia.

I know what you’re thinking, there is no Princess of Georgia and if there were it certainly wouldn’t be me. ;-) That isn’t the point. I can change my job description, title or any part of the position at any point on LinkedIn and those recommendations stay right there.

This is my problem with online reputations. As more of us establish an online identity, we interact more with others we meet online and we base our opinion of them on who they are telling us they are. Why does this matter? Because people have always been dishonest from the small tweaking of facts to outright lies. There is no one following me around the web ensuring I’m not fabricating facts. Even if someone suspected I was not the Princess of Georgia, what could they do? Maybe blog, maybe contact me, maybe tell their friends but those are pretty aggressive and don’t necessarily put the person doing it in the best light and most people just aren’t going to do it.

Because more professional opportunities are based on online reputations, this is important. We come to think of the people we interact with as colleagues and friends and we make recommendations or offer opportunities based on this relationship. Unfortunately there are some things you just can not know about someone unless you’ve worked with them.

I’ve received recommendations on my reputation and I’ve given them too. I’m not saying don’t do it and everyone you meet online is lying to you. I’m just reminding you of the old saying – “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog“.Similar Posts:

Social Media Periodic Table

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:37:11 +0000

Check this out – I would seriously love to see someone with more talent than me make a just for libraryland version! See the lists of blogs & people that are included.

Here are what some of the appreviations stand for you, you can see the rest at on Eye Cube

Social Media Practices: (Do these to maximize your Social Media experience)

Fl = Follow

Ht = Hashtag

Po = Post

St = Status Update

Sp = Spread

Se = Search

Hp = Hat tip

Fd = Feed

Rt = Retweet

Ud = Update

Cm = Comment

Jn = Join

Up = Upload

Tg = Tag

Tc = Tag clouds

Dm = Direct Message

Rx = Remix

Ln = Link

Mu = Mashup

Sb = Subscribe

Rf = Refer

Sr = Stream

Re = Reply

Rc = Recommend

Sn = Syndicate

Pk = Poke

Pm = Promote

Ib = Imbed

Blog People: (Consistently intellingent, thought-provoking & educational)

Sy = Shoe Money

Ar = Ad Rants

Mp = Micro Persuasion

Aw = Ads of the World

Sj = Search Engine Journal

Cf = Common Craft

Cp = CopyBlogger

Ba = Brand Autopsy

Sd = Search Engine Land

Dd = Dosh Dosh

Gv = Gaping Void

Ma = Mashable

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Akoha Starter packs – I have 19 decks to give away!

Bobbi Newman — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:27:28 +0000

Less than two weeks ago I blogged about an exciting new idea – Akoha. I was enthusiastic about the idea, in fact I love it. I love the idea of doing good and passing it forward, call me optimistic, call me naive, but I think this idea has merit. So I blogged about it, I was a little surprised when I was contacted, asking for my address so I’d have a pack of cards to hand out at my upcoming conference. But I was astonished yesterday morning when I arrived at work to discover not a just a set for me, but 20 sets, 19 to hand out!

Initially I stated – “If you’re wondering what this has to do with Libraries or the Social Web, my usual topics, the answer is nothing.” I was wrong. Oddly enough yesterday morning before I even got to work and discovered my cards, came across the Akoha Challenge and sent out a twitter message about it.

So I’m changing my statement – If you’re wondering what this has to do with libraries or the Social Web the answer is everything! Akoha is all about doing good, libraries are all about doing good. Hey most of us wouldn’t be working in one if we didn’t really believe in the good they do. A lot of libraries have now included gaming in their missions – Akoha is a game, even cooler it’s a big game and an online game. Oh wait, it get’s better, the Akoha Challenge -

After the Akoha community completes 25,000 missions, we will sponsor a Room to Read school in Nepal on behalf of our player community.

If you love the idea too and want to play along leave a comment, email me, talk to me at one of my upcoming conferences, I might just have your deck with me. ;)Similar Posts:

Akoha – Play it Forward

Bobbi Newman — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:40:22 +0000

While browsing my FeedReader this morning I came across this post about Akoha. Akoha is a game, not on your computer, or your Xbox, but a game with cards. Cards that people hand to you and you hand to others that allow you to play good deeds forward. When you get a card, you log on to the site and tell the story of how the card got to you, then you play it forward, passing the card to someone else.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with Libraries or the Social Web, my usual topics, the answer is nothing. This is an idea and a philopshy I am incredibly excited about. The potential it represents is thrilling! I’ve signed up for the Beta and I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get my cards before MLA, Internet Librairan and ICoLIS!

Learn more

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Is Library 2.0 and/or Web 2.0 really serving our patrons?

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:14:10 +0000

I saw and participated in a discussion on this on one of my email lists last week. I thought I’d take more time to write out my thoughts and responses on my blog. Sarah posted this over in MaintainIT but it looks like she didn’t open it up for comments so I’m going to.

Here is part of the email I sent the list

One of the problems I’ve seen with 2.0 is the library runs out and gets a blog or facebook page or whatever and declares themselves 2.0. They don’t consider who they are trying to reach, what they are trying to accomplish, how they will accomplish it or measure success. We need to take the same approach to 2.0 that we’ve taken to library services for years. Not every tool will work for every library and community. Some libraries have wildly successful film programs or extensive tools for small businesses, but not every library does. We look at what our community needs and what works best for them. The same approach should be taken with your web tools.

My answer is yes. I think there are many aspects of Library 2.0 (and web 2.0) that are providing better service to our patrons. Right now I’m using a blog to create a new Readers Advisory service for our patrons. Learning 2.0 & Learning 2.1 teach our staff about technology and terms our patrons are using that they might now have known about before.

I can go on and on with examples and arguments, but what I really want to know is What do you think? Do you have some great examples of Library 2.0 or Web 2.0 is helping (or not helping)? Is the objection to 2.0 that we’re placing a value judgment on it that we don’t apply to traditional services ( and by that I mean when we order the latest romance or horror novel)? Are we doing a disservice to our patrons by having a blog? Are gaming events a waste of our valuable time? What should we be doing with our time?Similar Posts:

LibraryThing adds Find Friends feature

Bobbi Newman — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:16:56 +0000

It’s 7 am and I haven’t even finished my first cup of coffee but I’m already excited! LibraryThing has added a Find Friends feature! Sweet! One of my favorite tools, as a librarian, a book lover, goes even more social!

It has the usual option to find people using your email contacts, but also a way to search for friends using your “also on” connections. Which is awesome because there are some people I’ve never emailed who are in my Twitter account (Facebook isn’t supported yet). I have to say as someone who has, more than once, accidentally spammed all of my contacts with an invitation to some new site, I’m thrilled to see the precautions they’ve taken against that sort of thing. LibraryThing, I gotta say it, you guys rock!

Be my friend

Read the post on the LibraryThing blog
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The New WebJunction Sneak Peek

Bobbi Newman — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:07:46 +0000

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be included in a group of people who saw a sneak peek of the New WebJunction. I am so impressed with the social functionality of it. Think Facebook meets Linkedin meets online learning, incredible! It hasn’t been released yet, they are talking late summer, which is too bad because I want in RIGHT NOW! I know they’ll be some more sneak peeks at ALA, so for all of you lucky enough to be attending, go check it out!

In the mean time go you can see BlogJunctions Post about it and WebJunctions Flickr account for screenshotsSimilar Posts: