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Even though there are many Twitter chats throughout the week, tweeting during a live event on TV is different because you have a large audience who is also tuned in and reacting to the same content you are.

A great way to participate in a large live event Twitter chat is with a group of friends who are on the lookout for each others’ tweets. You can do this through creating a sub-chat inside the bigger chat with its own hashtag. For example, author Jim Joseph is known for his #EXP chats that operate inside a big live event Twitter chat. Through Jim’s custom hashtags, there’s the possibility of both meeting new people and interacting with a small group.

12 Tips for Live Event Twitter Chat Fun

To get the most from a live event Twitter chat, here are 12 tips for having more fun with your experience.

1. A Twitter chat isn’t about making pronouncements or simply blasting messages.

In a discussion-based Twitter chat, a moderator is usually providing questions one at a time for the group’s reaction. When you’re tweeting about a live event, however, there won’t likely be pre-planned questions. Because of that, simply observe what other folks are tweeting. You can answer and respond to other people, even if a question hasn’t been posed.

2. When deciding what Twitter app works best, give Tweetchat.com a try.

One benefit of Tweetchat.com is that it automatically adds the hashtag you’re using within your tweets. This offsets the effects of number 5 (below). Tweetdeck (at least the old version of Tweetdeck) generally seems faster than Hootsuite, but the old Tweetdeck isn’t what it used to be! The refresh speed on the Twitter API is vitally important if you want to avoid being minutes behind in the conversation.  No matter what, expect tweets to run slowly during major events, such as the Super Bowl.

3. Don’t use up all your tweeting energy in the first half / quarter / hour / preview show, etc.

If you’re really focused on a live event Twitter chat, you may be shocked at how tiring tweeting a live event can be. Pace yourself and stick around for the full event.

4. A live event Twitter chat is the perfect opportunity to become an MST3K character.

Discover your inner Tom Servo. Strive for being profound, insightful fun, or snarky – maybe all at the same time. If need be, consider using multiple tweets (and Twitter accounts) to be all these things!

5. Alcohol is an important part of an evening Twitter chat.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

6. Since so many people are watching the event, it’s more fun if you’re commentweeting.

People aren’t expecting news reporting regarding the event’s activities; they want to hear your ideas. Your commentweeting is what people really want. Deliver it for them.

7. If you’d like to be more outrageous when you tweet, a live TV event is the perfect time to try it.

The more outrageous you are, the more retweets and followers you’ll earn during a live event Twitter chat.

8. Be aware of good spelling, but don’t slow down for perfect spelling.

Share your ideas as fast as you can. People can figure out small spelling mistakes with few challenges.

9. Tweet short.

As with any other tweeting, if you want retweets, don’t fill up your tweets with all 140 characters. Include only the pithiest thing you have to say in 120 characters and give people a chance to make a quick retweet of your compellingly brief comentweeting.

9. If you’re in a sub-chat (i.e. a focused chat within a bigger event), include the hashtag for the bigger event in your best tweets.

Even through your focus might be on your small group of tweeters, you still want to try to get noticed by those tweeting  with the bigger live event Twitter hashtag. Doing so can bring new tweeters to your group and grow your audience.

10. Follow people you’re tweeting with during the event.

Follow people liberally, or consider creating a Twitter list as another way to track the chat. Additionally, it’s fine to carry on side conversations while the event takes place. While the event brings people to the party, meeting new people you’ll enjoy tweeting with in the future is a big part of the event as well.

11. While Twitter chats are silent, they’re tremendously noisy.

Don’t believe me? If you’re concentrating on an live event Twitter chat, try “hearing” people talking around you and processing what they’re saying. It’s nearly impossible. It sounds stupid, but if you experience deafening Twitter chat loudness, you’re not alone.

If you’re a veteran of a previous live event Twitter chat, what suggestions would you add?

Or if you haven’t participated in a live event Twitter chat previously, what questions do you have? I’d be happy to provide whatever answers I can!   - Mike Brown

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Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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It’s fantastic that live event social media coverage of an incredible conference allows you to experience an event live from afar along with the blogs, presentations, and videos recapping the content afterward.

The only downside is you get to start kicking yourself while the event is still underway for not having ponied up the bucks to attend.

That was my sentiment with the New Media Expo (#NMX).

The Sunday afternoon tweets clearly confirmed the great content coming out of the Las Vegas event. By Monday, any remaining doubts were erased that the investment to attend the New Media Expo would have been a great one.

So while I wasn’t at #NMX, here are a sampling of tweets from the event. Again, this wasn’t my original content. These tweets are simply a sampling of great content I monitored and retweeted. Thanks to all the live tweeters for their efforts to share these ideas with the outside world!

This first link is to a Slideshare eBook with highlights from a broad range of #NMX presentations.

New Media Rat Pack – Content & Community Visual eBook from #NMX & @… ow.ly/gDbZj #SocialMedia

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

Audience Growth and “Viral” Content

These New Media Expo tweets underscore that it’s a different ballgame for bloggers than for traditional journalists. This point is lost on many traditional media outlets trying to look like social media sites, often with silly results. Social media content creators, however, would do well to consider adopting the ethics professional journalists operate under daily basis. And speaking of “daily,” there is value in writing more – even publishing daily.

RT @socialmediasean: RT @saravodak: “The goal is not to become mainstream media; it’s to be better.” @leolaporte #nmx — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

MT @501ctechdc: RT @ramonray: If your blog traffic is STUCK – 2 reasons – NOT writing enough & the quality of your content is miserable #nmx

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

While I still contend viral content is largely a game of numbers and chance, these tweets provide an underpinning to creating content that will be better received, even if it doesn’t become viral content. The theme of a micro focus inside a macro sentiment provides a basis for both generating and refining ideas that are near this intersection.

5 traits of viral posts: 1 – they live at the intersection of niche and normal. #NMX

— Amy Lupold Bair(@ResourcefulMom) January 7, 2013

RT @resourcefulmom: Getting your post to go viral: focused, small theme, but one that affects hundreds of millions of people. #NMX — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

MT @resourcefulmom: LOVE this tip: 4. Viral posts ride on back of a detachable rocket. If ur audience is small, can only go so far. #NMX — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

Social Business

This slide from the “War of Words: Myth-Busting Social Media, SEO & Content Marketing” presentation by Lee Odden is a wonderful illustration of how social content interacts with traditional marketing to address wherever a customer is in the buying cycle. You can find whole presentation from Lee Odden on Slideshare.

Love this slide by @leeodden#CIOs should partner with #CMO to understand power of marketing #nmx twitter.com/TheRedZoneCIO/… — Bill Murphy (@TheRedZoneCIO) January 8, 2013

These additional #NMX tweets point to how adopting a social business perspective not only paves the way for a different way of creating a brand’s customer experience, it also opens up intriguing possibilities for ongoing content ideas.

RT @mrmikelangley: MT @valaafshar: There are more smarter ppl on the outside,than inside ur company. That’s why social matters. #NMX #socbiz

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

RT @kevin_lee_qed: MT @samfiorella: Lesson from Ford SocMedia: people engage w/ people, not products. Simple truth. #nmx (lesson 4 brands) — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

RT @dsillsby: RT @bobbyisaacson: “Most brands are still using social but not being social.” -@susanborst #NMX #BusinessNext — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

RT @podmedic: RT @valaafshar: Lesson from @danawhite – customer loyalty is based on your response time and execution velocity. #NMX — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

RT @chrisyates11: RT @laurenmacewen: Build customer service issues into your content creation plan #warofwords #nmx @leeodden — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

RT @mompreneurmogul: MT @ariannems: Myth: Quality content isn’t sustainable. Solution: Know ur consumers’ journey. Empathize! @leeodden #NMX — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

RT @laurenmacewen: Creating content is about creating content for an audience to inspire a specific outcome #warofwords#nmx @leeodden — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

#Custserv also MT @billdowns: Have your sales team BCC answers to customer questions to ur creators = content ideas. @leeodden#nmx — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

Less costly – there’s ROI! RT @laurenmacewen: Easily discoverable content helps consumers educate themselves #warofwords #nmx @leeodden — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

RT @josieedmee: MT @leeodden: Guy’s social media mktg model: “Provide great content and earn the right to promote from time to time.” #NMX — Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

Guy Kawasaki on Social Networking, Apple, and Marketing Success

Keynote presenter Guy Kawasaki was filled with tweetable one-liners – no surprise there. Here are several that prompted my retweets. The first one sums up his take on four social networking platforms:

RT @hensel: Facebook is for people. Twitter is for perspective, google plus is for exploring passions, linkedin is for pimping #nmx

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

I’ve tried to say what Guy Kawasaki says below in several posts about Steve Jobs and the fascination with doing what Steve Jobs did at Apple. There’s no modeling Steve Jobs because he didn’t have to operate with typical strategies because he was wired differently. In all those time of writing about it, however, I’ve never been able to describe the unique situation with Jobs so clearly:

RT @valaafshar: The odds of having a visionary, smart dictator is small in business – @guykawasaki #NMX

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

Always a challenge to force yourself to accept when you want to do a variety of things:

RT @belindaparmar: RT @bryankramer: Most companies who are successful are known for one thing says @guykawasaki #NMX

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

Two Final Random Thoughts from the New Media Expo

This is one of those tweets that you sort of agree with, and sort of makes sense, but I would never have said it this way:

RT @sinabuns: RT @tamadear: We don’t just need analysts–we need data storytellers. Data without insight is just data porn. @webby2001 #nmx

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 8, 2013

Definitely not the sexiest of the rewteets, but a tremendously beneficial idea, nonetheless. I’d throw in your attention and passion right in there with your time as the most valuable things you have:

RT @jkfleming: RT @ariannems: “Money will come and go, but your time is your most valuable commodity!” @chriscducker #NMX #NMXDucker

— Mike Brown (@Brainzooming) January 7, 2013

I’ve got to find a way to get to #NMX in 2014!

Mike Brown

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If you’re struggling with determining ROI and evaluating its impacts, download “6 Social Media Metrics You Must Track” today!  This article provides a concise, strategic view of the numbers and stories that matter in shaping, implementing, and evaluating your strategy. You’ll learn lessons about when to address measurement strategy, identifying overlooked ROI opportunities, and creating a 6-metric dashboard. Download Your Free Copy of “6 Social Media Metrics You Must Track!”

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Top 40 Innovation Bloggers of 2012 Award Results

A big thank you to everyone who made time to vote for Brainzooming as one of the Top 40 Innovation Bloggers of 2012 on Innovation Excellence. The results have been released, and we are on the list at number twelve globally! Given the lesser presence I had on Innovation Excellence in 2012, it was exciting to be on the Top 40 Innovation Bloggers list again. The selection criteria weighting isn’t spelled out in complete detail, so everyone’s support for Brainzooming on the Innovation Excellence website, Twitter, and Facebook had a real impact.

In the spirit of re-establishing a presence on Innovation Excellence with new content this year, here are two recent innovation articles appearing there exclusively:

• 5 Characteristics of the Best Strategic Thinkers
• Collaboration as an Innovative Strategy to Fill a Market Gap
• Insanely Simple – Don’t Think Simplicity Is Easy!

You may find these two innovation articles beneficial, and the entire Innovation Excellence website, with a wide variety of authors, is definitely worth checking out.

5 Questions to Decide What Awards Your Business Seeks

It seems there are so many awards competitions for businesses, if you want to pursue them. Unless a business person is simply big on expending the time and cost to submit award applications – or the follow-on dollars often resulting from winning – it’s valuable to take a strategic perspective when deciding which business awards to pursue.

Consider these 5 strategic questions to decide what awards your business seeks:

1. Is the award name and business category consistent with our brand’s positioning?

2. Does the awarding organization have both name recognition and credibility with our audience?

3. Is the award selective and distinctive (i.e., not every organization who is nominated wins)?

4. Will competing for the award provide discernible marketing or business advantages?

5. Will winning the award provide discernible marketing or business advantages?

Beyond additional opportunity costs on the time and effort to submit an application, these five strategic questions can help decide when an award makes sense for your organization to seek. The more “yes” answers to these strategic questions, the more strategic sense it makes to seek a particular award.

For Brainzooming, being on the Top 40 Innovation Bloggers list makes a lot of strategic sense, as opposed to another award “nomination” we just received. The award name runs counter to how we position The Brainzooming Group, and one tweet about the contest said a single company had submitted 100 other companies as nominees. Those two “no” answers on questions one and three were enough to tell us to save our time on this business award nomination.

The Fun Awards Season – #EXP Twitter Chats

We’re entering the heavy entertainment awards season on TV. Couple that with the February 3^rd Super Bowl, and you have everything necessary for the fun #EXP (short for “Experience”) Twitter chats sponsored by friend and author Jim Joseph. While Jim bills the #EXP Twitter chats as focused on the marketing during these broadcasts, they quickly extend to hilarious and snarky running commentaries (or commentweeting) on the people, places, and miscues of live television. You have to be on Twitter to participate, but if you are, please join us for the upcoming schedule using the hashtag for each of the #EXP Twitter chats:

• Golden Globes – #GGExp –Sunday, January 13
• Super Bowl – #SBExp, Sunday, February 3
• The Grammys – #GrammyExp, Sunday, February 10
• Academy Awards – #OscarExp – Sunday, February 24

Trust me – even if the broadcasts aren’t entertaining, the #EXP Twitter chats will be! - Mike Brown

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the free Brainzooming email updates.

If you’re struggling with determining ROI and evaluating its impacts, download “6 Social Media Metrics You Must Track” today!  This article provides a concise, strategic view of the numbers and stories that matter in shaping, implementing, and evaluating your strategy. You’ll learn lessons about when to address measurement strategy, identifying overlooked ROI opportunities, and creating a 6-metric dashboard. Download Your Free Copy of “6 Social Media Metrics You Must Track!”

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Friday’s post featured my top ten list of favorite Brainzooming blog posts from 2012. Today’s post features your top ten list of  favorite 2012 Brainzooming blog posts as measured by Google Analytics pageviews.

While there are pre-2012 posts still drawing significant pageviews, the ten posts on this list all debuted in 2012. Not surprisingly, each post is a numbered list. The preference for numbered lists has been consistent each year, much to the chagrin of at least one reader who told me he is not a fan of big list blog posts. While I understand that, the Google Analytics pageview metrics show most of you do enjoy them.

One intriguing (but not surprising) wrinkle to the top ten list of favorite posts is five are compilation posts. These bigger lists are comprised of links to previous content, much of it originating prior to 2012. These posts play a role since with the Brainzooming blog growing to more than 1,300 posts during 2012, finding, compiling, and organizing content is more important for the blog to continue serving as a robust resource. Who would have thought you could wind up with almost too much content?

The final non-surprise on the list is there is only one article overlapping my personal favorites list: 7 Ways to Lie with Focus Groups. This pattern of minimal overlap between my personal favorites and the most viewed posts underscores how my criteria for selecting favorites are not correlated to pageviews. I select most of my personal favorites based on the backstories behind the posts, which clearly has almost nothing to do with what ultimately generates readership.

The Readers’ Top Ten Brainzooming Blog Posts for 2012

Here are your top ten favorite Brainzooming blog posts of 2012:

1. Creating Cool Product Names for a New Product Idea – 8 Creative Thinking Questions
2. What to Blog About? 187 Ideas and Topics for Blogs, All in One Place
3. Brainstorming Session Success – 21 Brainstorming Techniques
4. 15 Ideas on What to Blog about from Your Daily Life
5. Extreme Creative Ideas – 50 Lessons to Improve Creativity Dramatically
6. Advanced Twitter for Business – 19 Links to 480 Twitter Tips, Lessons, and Apps
7. Research – 7 Ways to Lie with Focus Groups
8. Extreme Creativity – 10 Brainstorming Questions from Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives
9. Implementation Problems? 7 Signs You’re Understarting, Not Overthinking
10. Creative Thinking Right Now? 188 Tips for How to Be Creative

Plus a Few Other 2012 Favorites

Beyond my previous top ten list, here are a few other posts that stand out for me this year written by others:

• Space and Creativity – This was Woody Bendle’s first Brainzooming post in 2012, and he went on to be the most prolific guest blogger of 2012 . . . and I hope in 2013, too!
• Great Strategic Questions – A 3-Step Strategic Question Formula – This post from Barrett Sydnor is a favorite of mine because the formula Barrett shares for devising strategic questions is absolutely ideal for getting great input from others.
• The Importance of a Passion Project – Alyssa Murfey made her Brainzooming blog debut in 2011 and followed it up with several more in 2012, including this one on her passion project. We hope to grow the collaboration in 2013 to include a presentation on personal branding for both early and more experienced professionals.
• Working Cats: A Day In The Life Of An Executive Cat – If you follow my Facebook feed, you have seen pictures of Clementine, our feline Director of Enthusiasm at The Brainzooming Group. She made her blogging debut on Fully Feline in 2012, sharing what her life is like as a working cat. We will have to see if she has a Brainzooming post in her in 2013!

Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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Here is my list of personal top ten favorite Brainzooming blog posts from 2012, along with a few notes on the origins or outcomes of each post. Stay tuned Monday for the list of the most viewed new Brainzooming blog posts from 2012. And as has become a pattern, my list and your list are pretty different!

Father’s Day and Some Parental Advice You Should Heed - June 15

I’m always surprised reviewing every blog post for this annual feature about the range of topics covered on the Brainzooming blog. This post – of a personal nature – is without a doubt the most important post in 2012, though. So much business stuff can get fixed later. If you ignore this post’s advice, however, there’s no going back to fix it.

Brand Experience, Glass Houses, and Naked Shower Guy - November 2

This was an easy choice as a 2012 favorite post. I’d been seeing Naked Shower Guy for several years, but wasn’t going to write about this bizarre situation without an underlying connection to Brainzooming content. Ultimately, a user experience research project we were doing for a client this year became the angle. Trying to get our local online “paper” to cover the story ANONYMOUSLY – hoping to let Naked Shower Guy know what was going on – didn’t work quite as planned though!

Research – 7 Ways to Lie with Focus Groups - October 3

This post seemed to strike a nerve among some members of the market research community. One market research celeb claimed it was because the “7 Ways to Lie with Focus Groups” said things nobody will say about market research reporting. The post was inspired by sitting through a poorly-designed focus group and the report out which made it all seem as if the market research supported quantitative conclusions. My favorite part is the someecards graphic desperately created the night before the post ran because it COULDN’T have a stock photo!

Just Thinkin’ – Musings from Twitter (Apologies to Larry King) - December 13

I’ve been a Larry King fan since my first job where I listened to his radio show during all- nighters. His open phone hour had some real wacko callers, which WAS a bit unnerving when you’re the only person in a nine-story office building at midnight! His run-on writing style has been parodied frequently, but this post was my first shot at trying the Larry King, ellipsis-heavy format. But you know what? The Larry King-style column is golden for compiling old tweets and random ideas. Expect to see this format again . . . I promise.

Strategic Thinking Exercise – Black Swan Events in Your Plan - October 25

This post is a favorite for various reasons. The post was inspired by a client question. It demonstrates how we apply the Brainzooming methodology to translate a client’s desired strategic outcome into a strategic thinking exercise to deliver it. There was a way to work a scene from Ghostbusters into it. And one of my strategic mentors, Chuck Dymer, said very kind things about the post in the comments. It doesn’t get any more favorite than that!

B2B Relationship Marketing – 5 Ways Facebook Helps B2B Relationships - July 12

This post recapping a friend’s weekend-long, B2B-oriented entertainment adventure with her clients is a favorite because of the masterful integration of experience marketing and Facebook social sharing. In fact, the Facebook social sharing took a memorable weekend for a couple of clients to a broader marketing effort aimed at potential clients and a challenge to competitors.

11 Strategic Questions for Disruptive Innovation in Markets - May 9

I personally liked walking away from the KCKCC Innovation Summit to be able to devise these questions (based on the presentations) to trigger ideas for disruptive innovation. Interestingly, the post sparked one of the blog’s first troll-like responses: an “innovation” guy who objected to the post’s headline as misleading. Despite his comments on the post, I stand by it. I could have shared very narrow stories from the presenters. Instead, you get very usable strategic questions to create your own potential disruptive innovation.

Gigabit City Summit Idea: When Everything Is in the Cloud, What Does “Place” Mean? - July 25

Great questions resonate for a long time. The question in the title from Josep Piqué during a Gigabit City Summit during the summer still resonates: “When everything is in the cloud, what does ‘place’ mean?” While it’s intriguing to speculate about the answer, it will be even more intriguing to see how the question is answered over the next twenty-five years.

Listening for Blog Content Is an Art within Your Grasp - January 27

This post is a personal favorite because it came directly from going to a networking event (generally not my favorite thing to do), the topic originated within 90 minutes of it becoming a blog post, it underscores how blog topics are all over the place, and it’s one in a series of Brainzooming blog posts inspired by Jason Harper. All that, plus the main part of the post is written in Sharpie marker on the back of my 2012 goals. Unfortunately, I probably did a better job with remembering Jason’s comment than remembering my 2012 goals.

Assistance Unwanted – 5 Management Style Signs Helping Is Futile - August 1

I’ll admit a decent number of Brainzooming blog posts are written about things I’m pissed off about in some way. But rather than blister someone, I try to generalize my frustration so it’s helpful for you and protects the object of my frustration. This frustration-inspired post is a favorite since it uses frustration from six years ago to obscure a 2012 situation that was frustrating me to no end. Venting your frustrations through generalized blog posts works. Add that to the reasons for why you should start a blog! - Mike Brown

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If you’re struggling to create or sustain innovation and growth, The Brainzooming Group can be the strategic catalyst you need. We will apply our  strategic thinking, brainstorming, and implementation tools to help you create greater innovation success. Email us at info@brainzooming.com or call  816-509-5320 to learn how we can help you figure out how to work around innovation and implementation challenges.

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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For past Christmas blog posts, I have shared lists of things bloggers and readers could give one another for Christmas. This year, let’s take a different spin on social media giving!

7 Social Media Christmas Gift Ideas

Here are seven social media Christmas gift ideas anyone active on social networks can give to others. Having received many of these gifts from friends on Twitter and Facebook this year, they are all true blessings.

1. Show up regularly

If you have spent time on social networks and made strong connections, show up regularly to maintain relationships. Various people I’ve known have made huge social media debuts on Twitter, talked frequently across multiple platforms, and then completely disappeared. When you create social network-based friendships, don’t suddenly disappear without saying a word any more than you would disappear unannounced from an in real life friendship.

2. Share a “truer” picture of your life

Everybody uses social networks to try putting the best spins on their lives and successes; Facebook and Twitter are definitely “share success to impress” territory. Give everybody a break and present a truer picture of yourself. It’s fine to share your successes, but don’t share all of them. Also share insight into your challenges, too. Both you and your friends will be more human for you having shared a truer picture of your life.

3. Listen (and not just in a “social media listening” kind of way)

Social media listening is important for social media success. But in this case, the gift of listening is going beyond simply having bunches of social media feeds you monitor. Really LISTEN to people you interact with on social networks. Read between the lines and spot people experiencing difficulties they won’t fully disclose or joys at which they only hint. Reading between the tweets and updates is a gift that is always appreciated.

4. Respond to questions

One of my least favorite things on a social network is when someone asks a question, people follow-up with answers and perspectives, then the person asking the question never responds – to anyone. Maybe they can’t get to everyone, but try to interact with those who offer responses. And if you see someone asking a question – particularly one where they’re looking for information or ideas – respond. . .unless the questioner has burned you before by never answering previously asked questions.

5. Offer your help and your perspective when someone needs it

There are definitely times I share Twitter or Facebook updates with oblique references to things going on in my work or personal life. It’s such a joy when a close social media friend (only a few of whom are in real life close friends) messages to see what’s happening. Sometimes it’s nothing but venting. Other times, it is a bigger deal, and I don’t have anyone to talk with about it in person. It’s wonderful when a close friend reaches out to offer their advice and words of encouragement.

6. Start a conversation with a lurker

Start conversations with people, especially those who need someone to talk with them. Reach out to the people who leave great comments or like your content occasionally, but don’t seem to interact when you see them pop up in your stream. Give the gift of trying to bring lurkers in your midst into conversations.

7. Fewer food pictures, unless the food is really beautiful or really unusual

There’s no need to share pictures on social media of everything you eat. If a dish is exceptionally beautiful, share it. If a dish is very unusual (i.e., it is extreme, surprising, or nostalgic), go ahead and share it. If it’s microwave mac and cheese and you’re simply pissed off about it being the only thing in the house to eat when you’re too tired to go get food, give your friends a break and keep the picture to yourself! - Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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As with most breaking news anymore, the first tip-off to the senseless tragedy Friday came via Twitter, as I was getting ready to head to a client session on new product ideas. Catching an overview of what was known at the time from CNN, I was out the door.

In retrospect, it was a mental relief to be away from the non-stop news and social media stream for a few hours.

Returning home late Friday afternoon, it was easy enough throughout the weekend to be sucked into the endless babble from TV news about this newest tragedy. Social networks were filled with admonitions from gurus about what people should or should not be sharing, people changing avatars to express themselves and what they felt, and warring opinions about what contributed to or would have prevented the tragedy.

Fixing a Problem with a Problem

In our new product session on Friday, we discussed the challenge of correcting a current problem by adding things to solve the problem that simply create new problems. Arming teachers and school administrators, as some suggested, seems to be a classic example of this. Ultimately, if an individual is willing to sacrifice his own life and keep his mouth shut while devising the evil he hopes to perpetrate, there is no real way to thwart him in EVERY public situation.

Maybe It’s About . . .

Maybe it’s about working to reclaim a culture that celebrates life instead of glorifying and cultivating its extermination.

Maybe it’s about paying as much attention to the killing and death (especially of children) that goes on one at a time, out of the media spotlight, as we do to more easily televised tragedies.

Maybe it’s about taking the energy poured into reacting to evil and pointing it toward doing something positive to avoid the need to ever have to react to a senseless tragedy such as this one again.

Reflections, Not Answers

While there was a lot of talk about what laws, policies, and media need to change, there didn’t seem to be as much talk about basics that really change things:

• Working for understanding and peace
• Loving people . . . even the loners and outcasts
• Getting help for people who need help
• Caring enough in the first place to notice the people who need help
• Prayer

Maybe we need to work on these things now. - Mike Brown

Mike Brown

Founder of The Brainzooming Group, and a huge fan of strategy, creativity, and innovation. Mike is a frequent speaker on innovation, strategic thinking, and social media.

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