It’s gotten easier as I’ve gotten into the process to determine what the end game is for each of these vehicles (yes, you need one). It’s all part of that whole idea of actually engaging with folks instead of being a blip on a timeline for a few seconds a day. Here’s how I’m thinking of using them:

The Terminal – If the site’s running on all cylinders, people will miss posts made throughout the week. The idea is to make it easy for them to catch up and give them ideas on how they may want to spend the weekend or the week ahead (still deciding on a day of the week). As a result, the express is becoming the 12:08 - so named for when The Crescent’s supposed to arrive in Birmingham on its way to New Orleans.

Dre’s Ramblings – I supposedly have all of these friends, but I feel as though I don’t really get a chance to connect with them. The email update will probably go out once a month – though it may end up only going out once every other month – but this way it’s a prompt for both sides to think about staying in touch more often. I’m thinking of it as a way to get back to letter writing…

Urban Conversations – It’s looking as though it’ll be a hybrid of the other two strategies. It will most likely not go out weekly as it’s more about opinion based pieces and profiles focused on journalism & urban revitalization, but it’s also a way to stay connected to those in both fields. BTW – subscribe here.

The hope for all of these is seeing some increased level of communication – whether it’s via an email thread in my inbox or a comment thread on the various sites. I’m no fool though;  a by-product of all of this will be increased traffic to the sites (and other things I decided to reference) in order to get a better understanding of what I’m talking about.

I’m more concerned about the conversations though. This would be in addition to following through on the whole information diet idea. I gladly blame Denise Cheng for getting me to start thinking this way. Her monthly updates are a great way to not feel out of the loop when I do get a chance to talk to her (especially when I don’t always get a chance to check out her blog).

Doesn’t it make sense to find new ways to prime the pump for conversation and not just worry about the traffic if we’re supposed to be encouraging more social interaction? Good content that talks to people (and not at or down to them) still wins out at the end of the day. It also gets folks talking…

You probably won’t see insanely high click-through rates at the beginning. Be patient (though it’s not a virtue people seem to hold in high regard anymore). Don’t just assume it’s about getting eyeballs to read content. That’s when you’ll be stuck with a nice list but little interaction – unless you’ve convinced them to somehow subscribe you your RSS feed instead.

What say all of you?

Photo: CVF WF 1. Ross Catrow/Flickr.

I wasn’t rocking the smartphone back then – only my SMS service. It was a good way to keep up with what was going on. In other words, I had a reason to use it.

Thanks to my Facebook account I’ve recently reconnected with a friend from college & hope to be in the audience as she receives her second graduate degree in a couple of weeks. I’ve also been able to provide what I hope is valuable information to friends as they make a very important decision about their future. Folks knew they could find me there, therefore it was of benefit.

The dilemma

I’ve also spent a lot of time since I’ve been back in town trying to play catch-up with my Twitter stream and various other social network platforms because I feel I have to know everything that’s happened. This exercise led me to realize I wasn’t practicing what I was preaching. As a result, I’ve slowly been making a significant change in how I approach being online in recent weeks – one that puts what I do more in line with what I say at conferences and to potential clients.

I’ve consistently talk about using things like social media as part of a toolbox and said that folks shouldn’t think about the platforms as the be-all and end-all. I’ve suggested in the past that it can be a window to the world and an digital extension that allows you to dip in, take a pulse or crowdsource how to tackle a project. Despite the fact that I’ve got to engage in order for this to be helpful, I’ve not been engaging in a healthy way – at least not for me.

I’ve got friends shutting down their online accounts as a way to focus. More people are talking about focus than ever before – even if you’re not realizing that’s what their words and actions suggest. Many choose to overindulge in what was once seen as luxuries as we attempt to keep up with the rest of civilized society. We have all of this access to everything under the sun, but we don’t really know any more than we did before. I don’t think I can truly disconnect from the digital world because of how I’ve chosen to make a living, but I can be much more deliberate about how I implement the tools at my disposal.

The remedy

Doing this crazy online world “right” is most likely in the eyes of the beholder. What a consultant can bring to your situation is a way to align what you want with what’s available to you. Sometimes it’s realizing exactly how what you may want doesn’t necessarily work with how much time you want to dedicate. Sometimes it’s realizing while your strategy suggests you should be listening more while the plan allows you to do so without sacrificing whatever the reason is for your being online. The good ones tend to model ideal behavior… hopefully.

What do I want now? I want an experience that lets me use the lessons I learned while in college and so far in life to help folks understand the built environment around them and how they could be contributing to it (a much simpler version of what it means to be an urban conversationalist, I guess). I also want excuses to meet up with folks over good food, a pint of beer or a cup of coffee to talk about baseball, urban revitalization or other stuff – people and things I’ve discovered as a result of finding new online bubbles to explore.

There will be some of you who stumble across this post that will say it’s what everyone in the bubble says. The goal of this post though isn’t to talk to the bubble, but maybe with those folks I want to connect with outside of it. That’s what got me blogging in the first place.

This is the part where I ask what you think about this – though you may not necessarily realize what it really means for a few more weeks… Well?

Images: Web 2.0 icons. zipckr/Flickr; Social Media Cartoon Comic – Social Media Overload. seanrnicholson/Flickr.

Facebook announced it expanded the number of characters allowed in status updates to 63,206 from 5,000. Those who did talk about it online pointed out how it most likely resulted from Google’s new social network Google+‘s no character limit (though there is said to actually be one – close to 100,000). Some have asked – and I guess I’m joining their ranks – if there’s really a need for that much space when giving your friends an update about what’s going on in your life…

Slow down there for a sec and take a broader look at what’s going on. Do you remember why you set up your account in the first place? (You do have a strategy, right?) If it was to help make people aware of what’s going on, this change may help. If it was to help drive traffic to your website where you have additional ways to track where folks are coming from and what’s of interest to them whether they “like” or “+1″ your status update, then this could be bad.

Another way to look at it is like this – would you expect anyone who follows your updates on those sites to read all of this there (possibly resulting in rants like this one), or would you expect them to visit your website and flip through a couple of virtual pages instead?

The change really means more than just a “battle” with Google+. The ability to share blog-length posts as status updates means they’re keeping an eye on sites like Tumblr, Posterous and WordPress.com. Facebook and Google+ want you to consider them first and think of your built in audiences for posts and news. It doesn’t hurt that you’re able to subscribe to people’s walls now even if they don’t follow you back.

The battle is about truly becoming an online hub for their users – the first and only place they really need to go for information. Facebook’s recent acquisition of Gowalla and Twitter’s exclusion of Foursquare in their redesign suggests that the fun is just beginning.

Use the extra space with a great deal of caution. Just because you’re able to write the equivalent of 1/9 of a novel doesn’t mean you should. I’ve personally got a problem with sharing that much information on a platform that you don’t completely control. Don’t worry, I’ve got the same problem with Google+’s 100,000 character limit too.

Think of it this way – if you happen to inadvertently violate the terms of use, all of that stuff you’ve handed over to them (photos, videos, blog posts, etc.) are presumably lost forever with one keystroke from one of their administrators. The work you put into connecting with all of those folks online, all of the unique content and perspectives shared – all gone in one second.

Yes, you can download archives of your data from most services nowadays – and even if you run your own site you should be constantly backing up your stuff anyway. There’s just something about knowing that your site’s down because of something you did instead of someone’s potentially arbitrary decision that worries me just enough…

What do you think?

Photo: Race #2. tedkerwin/Flickr

Close to 250 people gathered at the Birmingham CrossPlex to add their voice to what organizers hope will be a collective vision for Alabama’s largest city. Goody Clancy is serving as lead consultant for the city as they attempt to craft its first comprehensive plan since 1961. Among those in attendance were a group of young people who lucked into finding some adults wanting to hear their thoughts about the future of their city.

Some gathered for the half-day session may have found some of their suggestions a little over the top (their wanting more kid-friendly malls, more arcades immediately come to mind), but their voices also carried hope for things adults may find more helpful in making the city all that it can be…

They asked if they could get more libraries and better schools. Those unsure of whether or not the construction of the CrossPlex and its swimming pools were really wanted by area youth needed to only hear their first recommendation – they want more.

They hoped for another Railroad Park – perhaps a pre-cursor to the idea that the city’s existing green space (and the ability to find out what is currently available easily) may need a refreshing.

More importantly than any suggestion that was voiced or drawn by that group – the fact their words were listened to by those in attendance – seriously.

It’s important to make sure that your established leaders get their say. Listening to the young professionals in the crowd is also important as it’s becoming glaringly obvious that they are becoming an important part in the renaissance of many global cities. All of that said, we need to do a better job of engaging those we normally want to see play but not hear from as it is their city we’re borrowing for but a moment.

They also seem to not have the baggage of boundaries or disappointment that the adults bring to the table at times. They aren’t afraid to dream & to do what’s necessary to make sure it happens.

This was the first opportunity for public input into the plan, but definitely not the last. As the process continues, I’m hoping other children attend and that their suggestions are recorded and considered as seriously as those being made “for their own good.”

Anyone have any good ideas for how to get the voices of children involved (and how to best collect their suggestions)?

NOTE: I’m one of the members of the 38-person steering committee for the comp plan.

Photo: Children amaze me. acnatta/Flickr.

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