Altyrian View

I just read an interesting post over at JaffeJuice arguing that Apple should “Join the Conversation” (utilize social media for those not familiar with Joseph Jaffe). While I generally feel that most companies can utilize social media to their benefit, there are some that should not. Apple is one of those companies.

First, the full disclosure: I’m in the cult. I’m using a Mac Mini to write this post. On my desk is a MacBook Pro that connects to the Xserve through an Airport Extreme. iPhone? Yup, I’ve got that too, complete with MobileMe for the push syncing. I’ve had an iMac, a Cube, a Quadra 650 and a few iPods. I rarely get steaming mad at my Mac products like I do anything Microsoft. Every day I check out the rumor sites to see what might be coming next (tablet PC anyone?). I bought the Cult of Mac to see if I was in there.

And that, my friends, is why Apple should think twice about jumping into social media with both feet. Apple’s cult was built on that veil of new product secrecy. Apple has never had to defend itself because it’s got millions of us doing that for them (MobileMe certainly put some cracks in that shield, but it held – hence the “leaked” memo). I’m one of those cynical PR guys that believes that few “leaks” aren’t planned ahead of time.

If Apple were to join the conversation as Jaffe has suggested, it runs the risk of hurting its brand. It runs the risk of drying up some of the rumor sites, opinion sites and blog posts like this one. Transparency runs contrary to Apple’s brand. Keep in mind that participating in social media does not equate to good customer service. Generally speaking, Apple rates high in customer satisfaction and customer service.

And where does Apple “want to go today?” (sorry MS, couldn’t resist.) Into the business sector. Not a group that’s chomping at the bit to participate in social conversations. In this case, Apple is better off keeping its binary mouth shut.

That’s my Altyrian View.

NBC Universal is at it again. They have created a “real person” social media account for a character in a television show. This time it’s Sci-Fi Channel’s original Eureka that is getting into the social media act. According to this AdWeek article, S.A.R.A.H. the talking AI house has a Twitter account.

Fantastic idea! NBC is brining the Eureka experience to those that enjoy the show. Without additional filming, NBC is about to feed those who love the show extra insights into the characters and the plot lines.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that NBC has taken this approach. Dwight from the Office has a blog and Chuck also had a Twitter account.

That’s my Altyrian View.

As we truck toward November, the political season is really heating up for some. Many candidates this year have chosen to embrace social media, and I think that it’s great that they have chosen these venues to promote their positions on important issues and to help the American people to make informed choices in these elections.

As a North Carolinian, I was excited that our senator turned presidential candidate was grabbing social media with both hands. In the interest of full disclosure, I am not a John Edwards supporter, but I did admire his use of non-traditional outlets to spread his messages. That was, of course, until he conceded the Democratic nomination for president. Although there are a few examples, let look at Twitter:

To the best of my knowledge, Edwards was first on Twitter, and how cool it was! The posts looked like they were coming right from John Edwards’s Blackberry. Here’s one example:

On my way to the 27th stop of our bus tour through Iowa. Can’t believe we only have 1 day left. Elizabeth, the kids and I are having a blast.

Note the use of first person. Now, I think that Edwards had a staffer writing these messages, and so what if he did. They appeared to be from him, and they certainly generated some excitement about the campaign from the more than 5,500 people following him (there might have been more; that is of today).

Then Edwards dropped out of the race. I could be wrong, but he has not dropped out of politics, just this particular race. He could be running for vice president (very doubtful) or even for president in four years. BUT EDWARDS DROPPED THE BALL. Edwards just stopped posting on Twitter. Instead of giving his followers a short farewell, he just stops posting.

If the candidates are going to use social media, they have to be sincere in its use.

That’s my Altyrian View.

No, this is not a post about ths Apple iPhone much loved app store. Although it is amazingly nice to use, there are plenty of articles that extoll it’s wonderful features and applications (one such application, the Wordpress app, is being used to write this post).

This post is about one small application - a game - that points to things to come: iPint.

iPint is a cute little game where you tilt your iPhone to get a beer from one end of the bar to another. Nothing new here. What makes this wothy of a marketing blog post is that along the way you pass coaster and signs for Carling beer, the brewer that manufactured the game.

Product placement in video games is not new. My kids raced the king on a Burger King xbox game. This is exciting because just as companies are scambling to get their marketing messages on cell phones, Carling might have uncovered one that will mean more product related games on cell phones.

So, in the spirit of fun, here are some games that might be next:

- iLiner: Land the airplane on the runway. Sponsored by Southwest. You get bonus miles if you land on time.

- iTwitter: Tap as fast as you can to keep the servers running. If the servers crash, the whale gets you.

- iWindows: Help PC crush that annoying Mac guy.

Our local PRSA chapter has a blog where member can post questions and information. This post piqued my interest:

I received an email from someone asking for some quick enlightenment on how to get the most for herself and her clients out of social media sites like stompernet and twitter. She wrote, “I’ve joined several but I’m just not sure what to do with them. how can I advise clients when I don’t get it?? Who in the world has time to sit on these sites and browse for other people you know or want to know or to write what you’re doing in a blog everyday?? And there are so many sites that seem to be “a must” how do you choose where to go? Last question.. how do people find you on these sites? Blog directories?”

I posted a reply, and for the sake of those reading this blog, here’s how I responded:

“I’ve joined several but I’m just not sure what to do with them. how can I advise clients when I don’t get it??”

Common Craft has some great, short videos that explain the basics of different social networking tools.

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The good folks at Ragan interviewed me when I was in Vegas a few months ago. They did a great job of editing a 30 minute conversation down to just 8 minutes.

Before the interview we did quite a bit of basketball talk – UNC was to face Duke that weekend. I guess they figured that I worked at UNC because of how excited I am about the team. As most of you know, I’m still the VP of Communications at Altyris.

I’ll admit it: I’ve had a hard time seeing the value in Twitter. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, check out this fantastic video to get you started.For me, there were too problems with Twitter: posting tweets and checking tweets for those people that I’m following. I had tried some 3rd party applications, but for the most part, I had a problem remembering to turn them on (sure I could have them auto-start on login, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to do that).For me, the eye-opener was linking my Twitter account to iChat, the IM program that I use every day. Now, every time someone posts a tweet, it comes through on my iChat. Even easier, I can post from IM as well. Nothing new here, I just hadn’t used the feature before. Now, when someone tweets, I know it immediately. Typically, reading a tweet reminds me that I need to post what I’m doing. Now I’m on a roll…Now that I’m using Twitter more, I’ve needed a 3rd party app to get to some of the more “advanced” features (the ones you can’t do easily on IM). Neville Hobson sent me a direct tweet to check out Twhirl. It’s a great 3rd party app for Twitter.So, now that I’m finally tweeting, follow me. Better yet, let me follow you!

A new report finds that teens are using instant messaging to avoid awkward moments. They are texting instead of having face-to-face confrontations. According to a story on Fox News, 43 percent of teens use IM to say things that they wouldn’t say in person, 22 percent use IMs to ask people out on dates or to accept, and 13 percent use them to break up.

So instead of the “Dear John” letters, now we have DJ IMs.

If you are an executive at Whole Foods, you can no longer post information about Whole Foods, its competitors or its vendors on online forums. This includes all posting – under pseudonyms or even real names. From the Whole Foods code of conduct:

“To avoid the actual and perceived improper use of Company information … no member of Company Leadership may make any posting to any non-Company-sponsored internet chat room, message board, web log (blog), or similar forum … either under their name, anonymously, under a screen name, or communicating through another person.”

Real progressive company, that Whole Foods. They missed the boat. Let’s pretend for a moment that you had an executive writing anonymous letters to the editor of a newspaper talking about your company. That’s not appropriate behavior, and it should be stopped. Whole Foods is taking the stance that unless it’s a corporate newsletter, no more comments to the media.

Online forums are just another medium – treat them that way! Just like you don’t want to have executives granting TV interviews without running through the PR department, you don’t want executives chatting on an online forum. As a company, however, you do want to be involved in the conversation.

According to IDG News service and as posted on MacWorld, Google will today announce OpenSocial, its foray into the social media space where MySpace and Facebook are among the competition.

Google will take a page from the Facebook strategy by opening up APIs (application programming interfaces). For those of us who aren’t programers, this is a big deal because it allows applications and Web sites to interact directly with OpenSocial. As a matter of fact, many think that’s why Facebook has become so popular.

With its ownership of YouTube, Google already has access to millions who use social media sites. If done well, OpenSocial could be big…