Category Archives: twitter

Las Vegas = Sin City or Social City?

1 Reply

Be jealous: I went to Las Vegas a week and a half ago.  DSC_0018

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, I got a free drink from the bar at KOI, an uber-nice Japanese restaurant inside Planet Hollywood. (Screenshot to the left.)

IMG_3169 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.

I had a huge breakfast mishap the first morning I was there. I tweeted to them about it, I was taken care of, and @PHVegas checked in with me 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:

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.

Social Media Tip of the Week: STOP CLICKING THAT LINK!

Leave a reply
Creepy phisherman.

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

My Geek Moment for the Year

5 Replies

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.

Me with Ollie the bird.

David Lanham with both versions of Ollie!

David Lanham with both versions of Ollie!


My #FAILwhale is BACK, but Twitter LISTS are Gone!

2 Replies

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

fail_whale 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.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...