mollybuckley.

Be jealous: I went to Las Vegas (again) a week and a half ago. The trip was my Christmas present from Zach Ward (@zachward) and it included a stay at Planet Hollywood, a facial and manicure at the Mandara Spa, and TWO VIP tickets and passes to see Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds play an acoustic set. It. Was. Awesome. (I’m super lucky).

But even when I am on a short (but awesome) vacay, a part of my brain doesn’t leave work/writing mode. Well, I’m not a gambler and I have much more interest in partaking in spa services than any of the other “activities” that “sin city” has to offer. But the one thing that continually impresses me about Las Vegas is their use of social media and the way they use it to engage residents, visitors, and potential travelers.

Everywhere you go in The Vegas, social media follows. Almost every resort, spa, casino, and store has some sort of “get connected” signage encouraging people to… well, get connected. (Example to the right).

Even a mention of Vegas on Twitter and you’re going to be followed and @replied by a few casinos and/or shows that might want to help you out.

When I checked into Planet Hollywood on @FourSquare (a location-based social media application), a nearby special popped up. Just for checking in on FourSquare, Zach and I got a free drink from the bar at KOI, an uber-nice Japanese restaurant inside Planet Hollywood. (Screenshot to the left.)

If you have Vegas-related questions about discount show tickets, hotel reservations, restaurants, whatever, there is going to be someone in the social media space to answer it for you.

Zach and I had a huge breakfast mishap the first morning we were there, we were taken care of, and @PHVegas checked in with us on Twitter about it.

It was nice to know that if I had a problem or a question, there was going to be an answer, in real time, no matter where I was.

Vegas does social media right.

I know Vegas isn’t the ONLY city that uses social media to such heights, but it sure is a great example of how it should be done.

Need more examples? Look at some of the MANY Vegas venues on Twitter:

• @VegasConcierge
• @zappos (BTW: if you ever go to Vegas, DEFINITELY do the Zappos tour. It’s awesome.)
• @LasVegasHilton
• @PHVegas
• @CaesarsPalace
• @PalmsLasVegas
• @PalazzoLasVegas
• @HardRockHotelLV
• @EverythingVegas
• @VegasCom
• @WeddingsLV
• @HootersCasinoLV
• @MyVegasScene
• @Cirque
• @Vegas_Hotel

By using these tools, Las Vegas is able to reach out to an international audience. People come from all corners of the world to The Vegas and Vegas needs a way to connect with those people. And they do.

Question(s): What other cities do you think utilize social media tools as effectively as Las Vegas? Have you have a negative experience with Vegas social media? Do you think they could improve? What do you think engages you the most when a city uses social media? I would love to hear your thoughts and/or other examples.

Word.

Creepy phisherman.

My social media tip of the week this week SHOULD be common sense, but apparently, and alas, for some people, it is not.

STOP CLICKING THAT LINK!

You know the link I’m talking about. The link in your Facebook inbox, the tagged photo meme, your Twitter DM’s, etcetera, etcetera…

Here are some examples of what I am referring to and these are cut and paste DIRECTLY from my Twitter and Facebook inboxes (No worries, I have broken the links so that they don’t infect you):

• Hey, I just added you to my Mafia family. You should accept my invitation! Click here:http://www.playmobsterworld.com/?refuid=32617401&source=friends_
• We Only Have Space for 1000 Participants and Each Week We Are At Full Capacity So Don’t Delay and Register Right NOW! http://bit.ly/27vX3V
• If Guy likes it, I will try it! RT @Guykawasaki I just tried this service… and it works! http://bit.ly/315yHe
• Thanks for following me. Start making more money in 15 minutes: http://bit.ly/19nQze
• “Hi, this you on here?”
• “Your friend’s booty looks gooood in this video.”
• “I found your old pictures from high school!”

No, you’re booty doesn’t look good in that video. No, your friend did NOT find your pictures from high school. And if they did, they wouldn’t just DM you a creepy link. These are what is known as PHISHING scams. No, not ploys to get you to listen to old Phish albums. Phishing scams are defined as (via Wikipedia):

In the field of computer security, phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting public. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging,^[1] and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

Essentially, when you click that link that you SHOULD NOT CLICK, a tiny virus gets into your computer system and spreads that virus to all of your contacts (or sends a similar link out to people in your network hoping THEY, too, will click the link). And so on and so forth. That virus can steal ALL of your vital information, logins, usernames, passwords, and even credit card and personal information (like addresses, etc.)

Also, if you get an email or a direct message that asks you to change you password, put in your information, or update something, DON’T DO IT through that link. Some links sent to us look VERY real using real graphics, correct information, etc.

The FIRST thing you should do is manually access the website in question – meaning, click out of whatever window you are in, shut down your browser all the way, open up a new browser window, then type in the web address manually. Once you have accessed the site in question, if you REALLY do need to change something, it should say it when you login legitimately.

Also, the FTC has a great site on ways to protect yourself from confusing phishing scams.

So, EVEN IF you trust the person who has sent you the link, double check with them to make sure it is legit. I question my friends all the time just to be sure.

But seriously, stop clicking that link that says, “ROFL, is this you?! [insert spammy link here].” OF COURSE IT IS NOT YOU. Seriously, people? Who is clicking these links.

So, for the sake of all of us. Stop clicking that phishing link. You know the one I’m talking about.

Question: What examples have YOU seen of “good” phishing scams? And by “good,” I mean, they seem legitimate, but end up getting you. Why do YOU think people are clicking the links? What’s your opinion?

Word.

photo credit: pyromarketing

I was at the Wootini Gallery Holiday Show opening on Friday night and was doing a healthy combination of working and schmoozing. I was talking with one of the artists, David Lanham (@dlanham), an artist I had actually interviewed a couple weeks ago. As we got to talking he showed me his newest work… and I geeked out.

David is the designer and mastermind behind OLLIE the Twitterrific bird/mascot. He works for Iconfactory in Greensboro, NC and they have developed a vinyl figure of Ollie. Ollie hasn’t been released yet, but he will be soon. I’m going to try and get some and hook you guys up. Because Ollie is SAWEEET. He was even featured as a great holiday gift for techies on @Mashable!

Admittedly, getting so excited about meeting David and seeing Ollie in person was TOTALLY my geek moment of the week… and maybe the year. But I’m not ashamed. It is totally fine to have those little things you geek out over. Right?! Right.

I want to know: What do YOU geek out over? It can be totally silly or totally serious. I don’t judge.

Word.

Me with Ollie the bird.

David Lanham with both versions of Ollie!

UPDATE: Within 10 minutes of posting this blog entry, Twitter Lists came back. Ahhh, gotta love the ever-changing immediacy of technology.

I finally saw my familiar friend – the Twitter #FailWhale. Maybe my earlier blog post was like a mating call, or an S.O.S. and he knew he needed to pay me a visit. I missed his face.

BUT something else left. Twitter Lists. As you probably can tell, Twitter lists are temporarily disabled.

But no worries, guys. Twitter posted this on their status blog:

“Starting about 10 minutes ago, we began experiencing a very high rate of errors and we are working on the underlying problem. Update (1:30p): We are now recovering from this unexpected downtime. The Lists feature is temporarily unavailable as we diagnose the cause of the outage.”

So don’t worry, peeps. Twitter lists are NOT gone forever – they will be back soon. Just like my beloved #FailWhale came back, lists will come back soon, too.

Word.

UPDATE: Thank you to @RobLaughter for explaining the technical stuff to me. Apparently the #FailWhale shows up for HTTP 503 errors (over capacity). All other errors get the “something is technically wrong” robot. Well, I feel silly. But it’s okay, because I still haven’t seen the WHALE in a while and I kind of miss him. Is it weird that I want Twitter to be unreliable for ONCE so that I can see the whale again? Anywho. You can still enjoy my Twitter bits…

Where did my Twitter #Fail Whale go? I love the Twitter Fail Whale. It rhymes, it rolls off the tongue, and I got one painted on my face. Did Twitter get rid of the Fail Whale?

It seems they have replaced the Fail Whale with the “something is technically wrong robot.” That just doesn’t sound right to me – too many words and no rhyme-age. BUT, I do have to say that the little bugger is cute. I mean, look at him, with his awkwardly lanky arms, missing hand, and LeVar-Burton-from-Star-Trek glasses. Someone get this guy a hook!

You know what Twitter should do? Get rid of the “something is technically wrong robot” and instate the “Hey, LeVar Burton from Star Trek thinks something went wrong. Don’t worry. He’s channelling some space technicians from the Enterprise and everything will be back to normal momentarily… robot.” Sure, that’s a lot more words than “something is technically wrong robot,” but it’s a lot clearer and who wouldn’t want to see a debonaire LeVar Burton when Twitter fails?

Do you know what happened to the Fail Whale? Am I the only one not seeing it anymore? Or is this old news and my computer is just awesome and never fails so I just hadn’t seen it yet? Fill me in.

Word.

One of the BIGGEST questions I get from people I meet, clients, and anyone I talk to about social media is:

“Well, what does social media do for ME? What is the return on my investment? (or ROI?)“

I’m SURE that if you are involved in social media at all, that is probably a common question for you, too. Especially from social media “skeptics” – or people who think this whole social media thing is just a “fad.”

Now, some of you have probably already seen this video… but if you haven’t, you should. (Link included in case you can’t see the video). And if you meet a skeptic who wants to know their ROI immediately, share this video with them, too. Of course it’s flashy and makes everything really pretty, but it definitely points out specifically a lot of the great things that social media is doing for businesses and for people.

What do YOU think of Socialnomics? Do you think their points are valid or do you think it’s all just a bunch of BS? I want to hear your thoughts.

Word.

Some of you may remember the awesome “Awkward-Social-Networking-Pickup-Line-Pun-Contest” I held last week in a Thuper Therious Thursday post. If you don’t remember, then you can check it out here: THIS IS A LINK TO READ THE POST.

I have to say, I got some HILARIOUS entries. Hilarious. A couple pickup lines almost made me cry… from laughing so hard.

Congratulations to Jim Williams (@digitaldrivel) for his HILARIOUSLY awkward-social-networking-pickup-line-pun-contest-entry.

Jim has won a grab bag of comedy and social awesomeness from the Dirty South. Thanks for your hilarious line, Jim. Couldn’t have done it without you.

BUT, due to the fact that some of the pickup lines were borderline inappropriate, I didn’t want to necessarily post them HERE on my “professional” blog… so I actually posted some of them and wrote about the contest in a guest post for the MISTER DIPLOMAT blog (a comedy blog from the Dirty South). You can read the hilarity and see the winning line here.

Now, aren’t you sad you missed out? Don’t fret. More fun contests to come. I promise.

Word.

Today, I simply want to pose a debate. There has been some major discussion in social networking platforms about the use (or non-use) of social media and it’s effect on the law, jobs, benefits, etc. There are two major recent cases that I want to use as fodder for this debate – and I really want to hear your opinions and get some good discussion going!

HEADLINE: “Canadian woman loses benefits over Facebook photos.”

STORY: Basically, this woman was on long-term sick leave for diagnosed manic depression and was receiving benefits for her disorder. Manulife, her insurance company, saw pictures on her on a recent trip to the beach, at a birthday party, and on a night out with friends where she was smiling and looked “happy.” Her insurance agent used these photos as evidence that she was no longer depressed and the woman’s health benefits were immediately dropped.

DEBATE: There are a couple issues here and I have posed the following questions:

1. It was reported that the woman’s photos were set to “private” on her Facebook page. With that being said, SHOULD these photos be allowed to be used as evidence if they were not intended for public viewing? Or is ALL content posted on a social networking site no longer “private”?
2. Even if the photos were public, just because someone looks “happy,” does that mean they are healthy? Or should further investigation been taken?

HEADLINE: “Police arrest man for NOT using Twitter.”

STORY: 13-year-old singing sensation Justin Bieber was set to visit fans and sign autographs at Roosevelt Mall in New York last week. Well, Bieber stayed away from the mall because the crowd inside the mall had become too unruly. Bieber had tweeted for everyone to go home and that someone from his camp had already been arrested. Mall security was cracking DOWN! The police had asked James Roppo, an executive of Bieber’s label to send out a message via Twitter to get fans to leave and go home. Well, Roppo is not on Twitter – thus it was determined that he was “obstructing justice” and was arrested for not complying with police demands.

DEBATE:

1. Is the use of Social Media tools a viable source for “crowd control?” Do you think ONE Twitter message from a label exec would have controlled hundreds of screaming teenagers? BTW: Bieber did send out a message himself. Should that have been enough?
2. Were the police doing the right thing by canceling the event?
3. Should the police have been more understanding about the man NOT using Twitter and should they have offered another solution?
4. Is Social Media a viable resource/non-resource to warrant someone’s arrest? Remember the case of the woman who was arrested for POKING someone on Facebook?

OVERARCHING QUESTION(S):

• Are these social media outlets/tools/resources/whathaveyou being taken too seriously?
• Should legislation be passed to regulate them?
• Should it be up to the networks themselves?
• Who OWNS these things and who has a right to the evidence they provide?

“They” say that once that information is out there it is no longer ours to keep. However, what about the printed word before social media? Newspapers, magazines, books, diaries, leaflets? Did we or do we no longer own that information either? Is it that once something is written down, it is out there to be used against us?

Why can’t people just be positive?!

What do you think? I really want to hear your thoughts on this… because you rock. Yeah, you. Reading this right now. You. You rock.

Word.

photo credit: stephanie bond law.

Sure, no one REALLY likes change, especially when change isn’t wanted or welcome. The status quo is comfortable, safe, and just “works” for us. Why fix it if it isn’t broken? There’s been some gripe lately about a few changes that are abound or have abounded… I’m not sure if that is the right use of that word there… and I used to be an English teacher, but I don’t really care because it sounds right to me and I like it. So deal.

But let’s face it, when stuff changes that we don’t want to change, we gripe. We complain, we rant, we throw up our arms and say, “TO HELL WIT ‘EM!” Granted, I do this too, sometimes. However, there are just some things that we are going to get used to. We will cry a river, but eventually, we will build that bridge and get over it. Now, of course, there are probably a few exceptions to that rule – and when we know that something is morally wrong or hurts someone, then of course we should gripe until it’s changed… but what I am referring to is not that serious.

Twitter’s New Retweet Feature

Yes, Twitter’s new retweet feature SUCKS. But, let’s be honest, it is not that serious. Some of the biggest complaints are that we can’t add our own 2 cents, that it doesn’t allow for additional commentary. Well, sure, not with the one-click retweet. But guess what you still CAN do? Copy and paste, add your 2 cents, and then type RT in front of it. Sure, it takes longer, but we can do it. Assuming our fingers still work.

And people are griping about seeing people they don’t follow in their timeline. Sure, it’s annoying. Sure, we don’t like strangers in our space, but guess what? In about 3-5 minutes, those people will be gone. More tweets will have come through replacing those of the ones we didn’t know. Phew. Problem averted. It just takes a little patience.

Or, if you use a web client like Tweetie or HootSuite, you don’t have to worry about any of the aforementioned problems.

Facebook’s Change of the News Feed

Facebook changed the user interface again. Now, this is a little bit of old news for most of us. The biggest gripe is coming from businesses who are trying to market themselves using Facebook. Their information is no longer showing up in the News Feed – it is only showing up in the Live Feed, which a user has to CHOOSE to see.

Well, businesses… I guess that means you are going to have to start working harder to engage your customers. The more you engage them, the more involved they become, the more your business will show up on customer’s News Feeds. It actually sounds like a positive problem to me.

I’m just saying.

Twitter’s Trending Topics Being Useless

Yes, 13-year-olds, spammers, and people who have nothing better to do (for the most part) have turned Twitter’s trending topics into something completely useless and borderline inappropriate.

There’s been a lot of talk as to whether or not to do away with trending topics until they provide more value.

I’m going to be honest and say, this is going to be difficult. Twitter has over 33 million users – and I will say that less than half of those users are on Twitter to engage, connect, and relate to people. Many users are on there simply to connect with friends, shoot the sh*t, and tell people what they are eating.

Now, of course, there is a VERY LARGE percentage of Twitter users that use Twitter in a positive, meaningful, and extremely valuable way. I like to think that I am one of those people. We can’t discount those users. At all.

But, I think it’s going to be hard to control the craziness of the trending topics. And seeing as how Twitter exec’s have been handling a lot of Twitter’s issues lately, I will be surprised if they handle this one any better.

But it’s okay, we can search for what we need and what we think is important. We’ll get over it.

The Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football

It is no secret that I am a CLEVELAND BROWNS FAN. No, I’m not from Cleveland. I was born actually in Redskins territory. My dad’s from Cleveland, and therefore, when I exited the womb, I was to be a CLEVELAND fan. It is genetic. I can’t choose who I love, I just do.

And it is no secret that this season, we suck. The Cleveland Browns are a horrible football team right now. No doubt about it. Well, this past Monday, the Cleveland Browns were on Monday Night Football. And it seemed like everyone and their great-aunt’s mother was complaining about it.

Things I read on Twitter (all found from http://search.twitter.com):

• “Watching the Browns on MNF is like watching paint dry.”
• “So who’s bright idea was it to put the Browns on Monday Night Football yesterday? Whoever it was should be fired. Pronto”
• “New Rule…. No more Browns on Monday Night Football!!”
• “Why would they even schedule the Cleveland Browns for a Monday Night Football game??”
• “If you thought the Redskins were NFL’s worst team, you must have missed seeing the Browns on Monday Night Football.”
• “Sunday Night Football ha sido mucho mejor que los MondayNight Football.. Sigo si entender porque Browns en MNF???”

THEY EVEN COMPLAINED IN SPANISH!!

Look people, you think it’s tough watching the Browns on Monday Night Football? Try being a Browns fan your ENTIRE life. The only years we were good (the Kosar years), I was wearing a diaper and being fed mashed squash like it was an airplane.

If you don’t want to watch, then turn on something else. Quit complaining, because no one wants to hear it.

LOST is in it’s FINAL season and it doesn’t come on until FEBRUARY 2nd

Okay, maybe not everyone is complaining… maybe it’s more sadness from the Fans. I know I’m sad and I know I’m impatient. But let’s be honest, LOST fans have needed answers for six long years now. We’ve waited for a long time and we can wait a little longer. But all in all, it’s time.

I saw the FINAL SEASON trailer today. It’s going to be a good final season. At least it won’t have a crappy ending like SEINFELD or The SOPRANOS. Or, at least, let’s hope the ending isn’t like that.

——–

Okay, enough out of me. I’m feeling yucky talking about all this negativity. I need to go pet my dog, drink a Diet Coke, and watch this video at least seven times (NSFW – language).

I want to know, what do YOU think we will eventually get over?

Word.

There are a couple people that deserve a big shout-out this week – so I thought this would be a great public platform to shout them out on… shout on them… shout out them… out shout them. You know what I mean.

photo courtesy of Sweeden Rock.

Community Leaders

• @CHCYMCA – The Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA is doing everything right. I can’t say enough good things about their organization. They give back so much to the community with the Strong Kids Campaign and are getting kids involved the right way. I am also really excited because I am training for my FIRST half-marathon and the folks at the YMCA have been awesome and are helping to give me some great resources to help with my training. (I am a horrible runner, so this is exciting for me. I need all the help I can get!)
• @CarolinaChamber – Full Disclosure: I am doing freelance social media consulting for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. Being new to the Triangle, it is hard to feel comfortable getting connected in the community when you don’t know very many people. I got involved with the Chamber about two months ago and since then we have forged a great working partnership. I do not work for the Chamber, but I am working with them on their social media strategy. I attended my Chamber New Member orientation tonight and my first Business After Hours at the Carolina Inn. Wow, that place is amazing! I have to say that the Chamber is really working to support local business, social entrepreneurship, and the local economy.

Inspirational Tweeters

• @Garyvee – Maybe if you’ve been living under a rock you haven’t heard of Gary Vaynerchuk. I aspire to be as inspiring as Gary. His book CRUSH IT! got my thoughts going and my ideas rolling. He is a rockstar community engager – and he totes responded to my tweet on Twitter. I got excited. PERSONAL GOAL: meet, eat dinner with, and interview Gary Vaynerchuk in 2010. I am going to make this happen.
• @LisaSullivan – This girl is a rockstar. I am really in awe of how hard she works and how much she is hustling to make things happen. Even after being laid off earlier in the year, she has maintained such a positive attitude and has never given up her sense of gusto. She is always so enthusiastic and incredibly insightful. What a lady!
• @joshhanagarne – Man, if this guy doesn’t make you grateful, I don’t know who will. Josh writes a blog called the World’s Strongest Librarian. I read an article by him earlier this month, and since then I have been following his blog. He is a librarian living with a severe case of Tourette’s Syndrome and he uses writing as a method of therapy. His writing is fresh, funny, witty, inspiring, insightful, and awesome.

These people are incredible and I recommend them uninhibitedly. They truly exemplify what it means to be valuable.

Tell me, who do YOU think is totally a rockstar right now? Who, in your opinion, is providing awesome content and needs to be shouted outed? You know what I mean.

Word.