A lot of chance meetings have turned into an incredible group of acquaintances, especially from my trips outside of the Southeastern U.S. in recent years.

Many of those have turned into friendships thanks in part to the ability to start a conversation with them whenever I wanted to via online tools like Facebook and Twitter.

One thing I’ve noticed recently is how some people tend to remain acquaintances online yet think they know everything going on in my life due to those nearly hourly social network updates. It’s something I think about often – from both sides of the issue.

Now, I even included a lifestream on the redesign of this blog a few months back so that folks who aren’t as addicted to those things but who came by to visit every once in a while could see those even though I know they’re still only getting a glimpse of what’s actually happening.

I decided to post a status update about my feelings after a particular interaction with a Facebook friend offline to Facebook:

The comments (if you’re on Facebook, you get to take a look) were quite varied and it made me happy that I got to have an in depth continuing dialogue about this issue with folks online.

One thing that many people still need to remember though is we’re only getting that glimpse of a person’s life. It appears that we’re OK with being guarded about our lives – unless we’re sharing with our closest friends. Many still feel that there’s not a really good solution to replace actual conversations with folks offline (and I tend to agree).

Those statements normally lead to what can become an extended conversation about what it truly means to be a friend nowadays and if the word has lost some meaning because of how it’s been applied in social networks.

People still friend businesses – and businesses continue to create friend accounts even though Fan Pages exist - and Facebook has become a tool for business even though it was designed to help friends in college stay connected as a way to ensure its long term survival.

We’re still afraid of just how secure our communications are with folks in the system.

The flip side of that argument is just as interesting; I assume that everyone reads every one of my personal blog postsand the articles in b-metro (meaning I still get upset occasionally when someone who I’d hoped read the piece tells me they hadn’t really looked at the site in a while). I’ve learned that its an unfair expectation but one that many people actually have. After all, that approach tends to govern all of our interaction online, doesn’t it?

I did notice that people saw Facebook as a public venue and that some did not necessarily share as much as they would with their friends offline. That was fine by me since that was the point I was trying to get across, but it did finally get me to stop and take the 30,000 square foot view.

It sounds to me like the idea of maintaining this digital outpost is one that still makes sense since I can lock down sections and provide access to those I consider my closest friends whenever I want.

I did find it interesting that we still need to put up guards even though we’re supposed to be talking to our friends. I find it weird but comforting that whether you live in a city of 100,000 or 1 million, there’s still a small group of people that you consider truly close. It’s got me wondering if being a friend in the online world we live in changes things…

I also realized that I don’t talk to Albert Maruggi nearly as much as I need too…

What does it mean to be a friend nowadays?

Photo: The guys at BlogWorld 2007. acnatta/Flickr

Now this comes from someone who used to enjoy running the April Fools Day story in the college paper (until the one year that one of the advisors removed the words “April Fools” from the copy to fit the story in – major stress ensued).

I also listen to Orson Welles‘ radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds every Halloween understanding how most folks who tuned in late may have assumed that an attack on our planet by aliens was imminent.

There are many out there viewed as leaders online (at least to those that choose to follow you) who talk about operating in this world of trusting in people and organizations using ever-changing technology fighting an uphill battle every time someone feels like punking out the Internet.

So while I fully admit that I fell for the Conan O’Brien joins Revision 3 hoax that took place during the Diggnation party at SXSWi in the beginning last night, the lack of true banter and the virtual high-fives made we a little weary. Even if you don’t think it was funny, you have to marvel at the speed with which the information spread online. It did demonstrate just how powerful the crowd can be when activated though not in the same way as it does for efforts such as the Haitian and Chilean earthquakes.

I wasn’t the one that made the phone call to Conan to see if it was true (that would involve having access to a phone number that I doubt I will), but I was one of the folks that actually tried to see if I could get a response from Revision 3 or O’Brien via their Twitter accounts. The silence was deafening enough to signal that things weren’t quite adding up. Then came the post from Clement & Co. after folks were already realizing what happened.

It really shouldn’t have surprised anyone that Conan was contacted last night to see if the story was true. We live in an age where folks are still trying to get that edge and claim the title of being the first to break a story as the news industry attempts to figure out how it’s supposed to operate in this digital era. There are many who retweet, share or click on a post with the words breaking news or exclusive in them without first questioning the source because we’re supposed to trust that our source is telling the truth as mentioned in this CNET post earlier today.

Now that all of us have the potential to serve as citizen journalists or online brand managers, we have to weigh the fun of duping portions of the virtual world with a tweet or a post with the long-term consequences of going to the well of hoaxes too many times just because.

I’m starting to realize that the curation of these information streams will become more important as time goes on. Part of that will include serving as a watchdog of media – in all of its forms probably in a much more vigilant way than Brill’s Content tried to be . This may be impossible to truly accomplish (read all six in order from left to right) and so we’re left with a new version of the long standing question of “Who do you really trust?”

I’ll keep an eye out for the next hoax and probably laugh for a while at just how gullible some folks (including myself – as I did this time) are to believe whatever they see online.

Then I’ll probably start wondering when those in positions of influence will realize that it’s just making it a little harder for some to see the true benefit in participating in the virtual world. If the online world becomes completely serious and sanitized though, we’ve lost as well.

I’m hoping that I’ll hear from some folks that disagree with this or who think that I may be looking at this situation too critically or seriously. I’m looking forward to hearing from folks (or hearing from no one – I think I can take it nowadays).

Now if I could only get Conan to add a date in Birmingham, AL to his upcoming tour (or @shwood to visit)…

Photo: this is a TRIUMPH by Torley/Flickr

I shy away from both labels (and probably will for some time still to come) since I don’t feel as though I’ve earned it. I have this weird opinion that if you ever think of yourself as an expert you’ll feel as though you don’t have to learn anything else – that you know it all. In a field that seems to change once every couple of days, I have a feeling that’s not going to happen for some time.

That said, perhaps since there are others calling me an expert I should probably feel comfortable using the term to describe myself. I doubt I would, but it may ease some of the concerns that were addressed earlier today over on Social Media Birmingham.

While I do feel that the fishbowl has gone over this topic with a fine tooth comb (including one person whom I consider an expert explaining why they stopped using that label to describe themselves and what an they’d want an expert to know), it is important to look at it from the point of view of the client or consumer.

This field of digital communications for all intensive purposes is essentially 15 years old. In our “run-from-one-place-to-the-next,” “we-need-it-NOW” lifestyle, we’d assume that by now someone has to have a concrete set of standards for people to be able to accurately measure the intelligence of the person or company that you’re asking to handle a portion of your marketing and outreach campaign. We don’t – and I don’t think we need to (per se – but that’s for another post); but…

…people put trust in labels. They believe what they are told. It is a trust economy nowadays after all.

The problem seems to exist because of how labels develop based on the situation around their recipients.

Perhaps if you’re in a city that’s beginning to embrace social media, an expert is someone who can go over the basics, like how to set up an account and some initial trends that are going on. Maybe for that situation, you’re their expert.

For those in another community where they have been fully embracing all of these tools for some time there’s a person that can explain how to measure the effectiveness of the messages and the conversations as well as recognizing opportunities to connect offline as well as potential use of print materials. They’d be that community’s expert, but they may not be what the other community wants because of the level of knowledge being sought (and vice versa).

These “experts” are people too and they have different levels of skill. Let’s appreciate that, do good work, and let that speak for itself in terms of where you fall in the pantheon of folks practicing an ever-changing craft.

That said, I’d add one more thing – speak in your own voice and appreciate the authentic voices of others.

Or I could just let Jason Falls say it much more eloquently or maybe even much more succinctly than I just did.

I look forward to seeing what else I can learn from others out there while I have my own shingle hung on the door for business.

Photo: Dennison Label Sheet. Calsidyrose/Flickr

Now, I had two things going through my mind at this point:

Did I warn people often enough of the pending excess of tweets flooding their streams? We did once at the beginning of each effort.

Were these events important enough to try to make the campaign a more relevant issue to our followers on Twitter and – hopefully – the city and the region? Considering recent voter turnout numbers in local elections, I thought it warranted some attention.

We received a positive response from the first evening’s coverage, including a mention from one of the city’s alternative weeklies since they couldn’t cover it themselves.

Last night’s event drew more support, but only after one of our stream followers made the following comment:

@bhamterminal guys. seriously. Twitter is not a chat room. I don’t need play by play of local city council meetings. unfollow in 3, 2, 1…

While I’m grateful for the encouraging words that I saw the account receive involving the use of Twitter in this instance, I started to wonder about the fact that even though folks don’t like to think of social media tools in marketing terms, it definitely behaves like one since its essentially an opt-in process.

I’d have to say that it’s better than a chat room – it’s a conversational engagement tool.

As a result, some folks use Twitter as a chat room (including the wildly popular #journchat on Monday nights and #blogchat on Sunday nights) while some use it as an informational stream – a fire hose of knowledge if you will.

The great thing about it is you can choose to drink from the hose whenever you want to. There have been additional tools out there to help shut off portions of the stream, including Twittersnooze (though it’s currently sleeping itself) and third party applications like Tweetdeck and Seesmic that allow the creation of groups. Twitter’s new Lists functionality even provides help with reducing the force of the flow. Of course, you can always choose to block, unfollow or unfriend a stream if it becomes too much for you. It will not be the end of the world and you may even figure out a way to re-engage in the conversation later on.

As for how we deal with moving the conversation off of Twitter and somewhere where it feels less like broadcasting… I have a few ideas, but I’ll wait to hear your suggestions down below first and then share them and mine later this week.

By the way – don’t be afraid of making mistakes when using Twitter or any digital communications tools.

It’s not failing – it’ll just help you in the long run.

Photo: Fire hydrant. mikbor/Flickr.

There are many that wonder why these books don’t go the way of the dinosaur since nobody uses them anymore . There are numbers that appear to bear that out. They’re also looked at as a barometer of our economy (and not one necessarily delivering a rosy message either). Slate even posted one story last spring that all but suggested that their ultimate fate should come sooner rather than later and there are some that agree.

I actually remember having a rotary dial phone in the house when I was little (there’s one of those embarrassing but apparently cute – in Mom’s eyes at least – photos of me on it out there somewhere) but I can’t remember the last time I used the Yellow Pages. I think it was sometime back in 2004 when I first moved here to get the number to turn on the Internet service.

Actually it was one evening when we had to call the cable company because our service was out and we didn’t have the number handy (ironic, isn’t it?).

I’m not sure that we’ll ever see printed directories truly go away, though it may be helpful if we had a few more opt-out programs for folks who didn’t want them delivered.

But here’s what gets me…

For all of the talk about social media tools and everyone’s use of them, it’s always sobering – and important – to remember that most people are still just getting their feet wet in this thing. We normally assume that everyone is already connected to the Internet and always has access to a computer or smartphone. That’s not the case (as much as we’d like to be).

My point is that not everyone hops on the bandwagon at the same time. We’d like them all to do so, but it’s not going to be the case. We need to remember that when we’re talking about these tools (there’s me talking to myself as well as you again).

Just out of curiousity, do you remember the last time you used a printed phone book?

And what do you think?

Photo: André Natta

The room was comfortable, the front desk was extremely helpful and the breakfast attendants talked me into a full breakfast that was so good that it kept me satisfied practically all day Saturday.

Plus, it was one really comfortable bed (as you can see)…

While I was driving back, I couldn’t think of many things that could have made the stay even better – save one that would be a perk.

I thought about what it would be like if you were able to communicate with a hotel or inn directly using social media.

Hotels are already looking to tools like Twitter and Facebook to reach out to those of us out here in the virtual universe, but the tone of the conversation would need to be altered slightly.

Followers are currently able to find out about contests (that chains hope become viral – like the one that David Sullivan just won) or about special deals that are only they will be able to learn about. I’m hoping that eventually it will also make it possible for me to communicate with the desk about availability (if I’m a regular or business traveler) or be able to request the hotel shuttle come and pick me up in addition to helping with recommendations.

It wouldn’t be fair to ask for a change without pointing out the personal touches that using social media and search allows one Garden Court Inn to provide (thanks for the link, @SocialMediaComm).

Putting this question out via Twitter today pointed me in the direction of several sites that use that popular service to share information with their followers – but it is still in the early adoption stages as is all of this stuff. My adopted hometown of Savannah has a couple of entries in the race, including a profile for the DeSoto Hilton, the city’s tallest building, as well as the Hyatt along the waterfront. There are also several hotels using Facebook, including aloft, Hilton Garden Inn and Sheraton Hotels and Resorts among others, though many appear to be using as a broadcast vehicle and not necessarily one that builds relationships over the long term via a two-way conversation.

One reason to be optimistic about that interaction changing is Hyatt’s HyattConcierge account on Twitter. The profile has more than 7,800 followers and a quick look at recent tweets from it shows that it’s responding to people while making others aware of answers to questions that they may have. It also appears as though they probably have as much traffic occurring as direct messages to travelers as the open information stream. It’s just cool to think about what it would be like if several properties could get to that level of assistance for their guests.

A few things will need to change in order for this to spread across the industry. The accounts would need to be used by more than just  the marketing department. I know that managers are always worried about how their staff uses their time (I know I was when I managed), but the ability to have folks able to receive answers to questions like “What’s going on in town this weekend?” or “Is it possible to make reservations at (insert name of restaurant here)?” would be a treat for those following and probably a lot more fun for your front desk and concierge staff than you think.

Another issue involves getting that conversation online to be a two-way one and not just one of giveaways and contests. This would involve both sides of that conversation taking steps to truly change their behavior, including having questions asked and answered by other guests. That may take a little longer, but I still think that the results would be great.

I’d love have some of you share more examples of hotels and smaller properties using social media tools to enhance the guest’s stay.

Anybody?

Photo: HGI bed. André Natta

This photo is from my second Main Streets Conference in New Orleans in 2006 after some friends and I finished having some lunch at Central Grocery. There’s also a story about a streetcar and a very long trip to a cemetery, but I digress…

My first one was in Baltimore, MD in 2005 and I have several fond memories from it. None of them would have never happened had I not physically been there.

Here’s one example: I was set to go to one of the last sessions on Tuesday afternoon when six of us decided that we’d skip out and check out one of the city’s municipal markets for some oysters. We ended up spending two hours talking about preservation, revitalization and everything else under the sun. Being able to hang out and talk with these guys, including Billy Parrish (a former National Trust Main Street Center director) and economic development consultant Don Rypkema was the highlight of my conference.

I would have never gotten that from just following the conference online. While one can occasionally find those types of conversations and opportunities, they are rare.

That’s why I’m exploring Nashville as you’re reading this on Friday evening getting ready to attend what promises to be a great open to the public session at the National Preservation Conference (and I haven’t even talked about getting to hang out with Jason Falls, Chris Brogan and Rachel Luxemburg at Daquiri Island during BlogWorld Expo 2007…).

Wednesday’s post about virtual conferences led to a few online and, ironically, off-line conversations about the benefits and pitfalls associated with it. This included one from a friend via Facebook that asked about what happens when you give away too much online.

“…nonprofits need a revenue stream from somewhere and conferences, while very time- and money-intensive, do generate revenue. If enough content is put online, how do attendees justify paying to register? At what point do they stay home and be virtual attendees for free?”

It’s become common to be able to find and expect some kind of an opportunity to take part in conferences virtually, most likely via following along on Twitter or hoping for a live stream of a keynote or two. Even with that expectation, many would still choose to attend in person if at all possible.

Last night, I got a chance to watch the happenings at another conference via mycontent.com (great site BTW) – this year’s BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. I was reminded of one valuable piece of advice during Chris Brogan’s keynote…

(The link goes to Chris’ blog post about it. Great reading…)

I’ll put it this way: it doesn’t make any sense to hide behind the keyboard and only glean from the streaming video and Tweets – and that goes double if you’re there in person.

BTW, I probably just spoke to myself as much as I tried to pass along Chris’ advice to you in my own voice.

We need the chance to enjoy chance conversations, fleets of fancy and rainbows. For that reason alone there will always be a draw to attend a conference in person. There’s something about sitting in the Ryman in Nashville or hanging out at the Daiquiri Island in  the mall at the Planet Hollywood Hotel or sitting at a coffee shop and being able to actually talk to someone one-on-one that just doesn’t happen any other way.

Social media in this case is a window that lets us catch a glimpse of what’s going on (and what we may feel we’re missing out on) elsewhere in your community. It’s still only a glimpse.

You need to be able to hold onto those memories and cherish the communities of which you’re a part. The tools are there to help make it easier. Hopefully we’ll have some great conversations soon about how to do that – both on and off-line.

Photo: Muffed at Central Grocery. André Natta

The group that has popularized the Hipster PDA shouldn’t surprise us with their love for the tactile. I consider myself a borderline hipster – despite my excessive reliance on my laptop to run my life, many of my friends would not necessary be surprised to see a pencil in my hand and a legal pad out as I work out a problem. Hipsters still enjoy the art of creating the flyer or poster. We enjoy the craft and the thought that has to go into it. I cherish a poster that I bought at my first ever Kentuck Festival – it’s a hand printed poster for a Man or Astroman? concert at The Bottletree. Despite my love for the nebulous, the historian and packrat in me still loves to hold something in my hand.

Even on The Terminal, whenever we sponsor an event, we still cherish the visual and the tactile even though we never “go to press.” We figure that while many would say that it’s all about content, we know that one reason that folks visit the site is because of how it looks (and we can’t disappoint as a result).

Do you still find yourself looking on the wall for the latest information instead of in the paper or online? Maybe it’s the ability to sort through layers of information in much the same way that web workers dig through search results to find what it is that they’re looking for. The main difference is that it can provide in a glimpse an idea of the kind of neighborhood it is, the kind of regulars that frequent the establishment, much in the same way that the merchandise or the items on the menu in a way that you will never quite be able to get no matter how hard you try on the computer.

What do you think? Can the bulletin board be a window into a neighborhood even in this modern world? Do you have any examples of a bulletin board that provides us that glimpse?

Let me know.

NOTE: This post was originally written for my personal blog, Dre’s Ramblings, in spring of 2008.

Reading through my Facebook and Twitter streams I saw someone suggest that a topic that was covered during the BarCamp become a monthly event. On the surface, it’s a great idea. It provides an opportunity for folks to talk with each other about the nuances of this reorganized world that we live in online. I have a hard time saying new when I remember having a CollegeClub.com account back in 1996 and talking to folks online in 1985.

The issue that comes to mind for me though is the fact that we currently have a Social Media Club in Birmingham that meets monthly (there’s a Google Group that I’ll probably be reminded about after this posts). Perhaps the conversations could take place as a small group function of the larger organization, but to start a totally new silo (albeit with the same cast of characters) seems redundant. Or does it?

I cannot cast too many stones as I hope that one of the outcomes of this year’s WordCamp Birmingham is the creation of a local blogging community that shares best practices with each other and helps each other through problems, whether it be involving content or development of their sites. In a perfect world, I’m hoping that I get to say that it’s involved with the Social Media Club (at least as this subgroup starts). The website that I spend most of my time on is in fact a result of thinking that I wouldn’t be able to do that type of blogging through the existing channels when I first started.

The freedom that the social media tools provide is also the one thing that could further separate us as we do not necessarily have to listen to another point of view. The same argument could also be made in terms how we get to connect with each other offline. Immediate splinters seem to leave folks without the chance to see if they may actually like something else or what someone who they don’t normally agree with says. The conversation needs to open up to more folks or else the resources can become drained – and quickly.

There is no easy solution to this issue, but it’s something that we need to look at soon, as the world continues to figure out how they will use social media in its future.

What do you think? Are there too many silos? If so, how do we get folks out of them and figuring out ways to flatten the conversation out?

BTW, here’s the video from Saturday morning:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photo: Silos. Zoom Zoom/Flickr.