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

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.)

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:

• @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.

I came down with a pretty bad case of the flu this weekend, so my thoughts have been a little more difficult to organize. But as I was lying in bed, drinking 30+ cups of orange juice, and watching yet another Audrey Hepburn movie, my mind wandered to the people in my life. Of course I began thinking about my family and close friends, but then I started thinking about this whole idea of a personal “network.” In my humble opinion, your personal network is really consisted of those meaningful, professional relationships that you have developed in which you can call on those people for references, advice, career opportunities, support, etc.

In the “old days” your personal network was developed solely in person. By attending leads groups, BNI groups, networking events, churches, PTA meetings, school, whathaveyou… for the most part, your network was built by one-on-one, in-person contact – or with a personal introduction from/through someone else.

Now today, with the onslaught of social and online networks (i.e. Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter), the development of a personal network has evolved and how we meet people and foster relationships has completely changed.

Within our social networks, there are those we communicate with often. We know them by name, we comment on their content, we engage on a regular basis. We have developed a working rapport with these people.

Then, in our networks, we have the “lurkers.” The “lurkers” are those whom we are friends with, or follow, or are connected to, that we never, ever, ever, engage with. (I’m 100% guilty of this, too. We all are. So let’s not go pointing fingers.) These are people we ran into or had a brief conversation with way back when, and since then, we have dropped that connection. We don’t chat, talk, or connect at all.

SO, my social media tip of the week this week is: Make Better Connections (and renew old ones).

Find those people that you follow on Twitter, are friends with on Facebook, or are connected to on LinkedIn and spark a conversation with them. Renew that relationship. Make that connection worthwhile. You never know when you might need that person!

And the next time you follow someone, friend someone, or make a connection with someone, make it personal. Find a common interest, share a personal story, ask a question. Whatever! But make it substantial.

Rid your network (and your life) of those “lurkers.” Lurkers are creepy, anyway.

What do you think? Do you think those “lurkers” are always going to be there? Have you found a way to make your network more worthwhile?

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

Some of you know that I write for a local news parody, Weekend Update style, show called DSI Witness News. In addition to writing for our own live shows at the DSI Comedy Theater, we write for a daily segment on a local station, WCHL 1360AM (every morning at 8:20AM and again at 5:55PM).

Well, some of you have probably seen these crazy Facebook phishing scams and viruses going around. “Test your IQ,” ‘I found pics of you,” and the newest, “Your friend’s booty looks GRRRREAT in the video.” Well, the booty virus hit local politicians and we were lucky enough to have THE Mayor of Carrboro himself, Mark Chilton, join us for a HILARIOUS episode on Tuesday.

(Click here if you can’t see the video. And click here if you want just the audio.)

Hilarious, right? Ahhh gotta love elected officials on Facebook. Thanks, Mayor Chilton for being awesome.

Question: Do YOU have a booty virus?

Word.

If you have logged into Facebook at all this evening (and by evening, I mean the evening of December 1st. I am writing this at 11:30PM), then you have most likely seen the message from Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. I won’t recount the whole thing here, but being that I love Facebook and I write about social media, I figured I would at least put in my two cents.

The big over-arching message is that Facebook has now reached 350 MILLION users. That is a lot of poking. And that with such a large growth of the network, the privacy concerns and needs of its users are going to change and evolve. Facebook prides itself on being a walled community that allows its users to completely customize privacy preferences and be able to CHOOSE who gets to see what information. So, with that being said, Facebook has decided to do away with regional networks and create a more basic “Friends” – “Friends of Friends” and “Everyone” network and preference system.  Here is an excerpt from Zuckerberg’s letter regarding this decision:

“The plan we’ve come up with is to remove regional networks completely and create a simpler model for privacy control where you can set content to be available to only your friends, friends of your friends, or everyone.

“We’re adding something that many of you have asked for — the ability to control who sees each individual piece of content you create or upload. In addition, we’ll also be fulfilling a request made by many of you to make the privacy settings page simpler by combining some settings. If you want to read more about this, we began discussing this plan back in July.

“Since this update will remove regional networks and create some new settings, in the next couple of weeks we’ll ask you to review and update your privacy settings. You’ll see a message that will explain the changes and take you to a page where you can update your settings. When you’re finished, we’ll show you a confirmation page so you can make sure you chose the right settings for you. As always, once you’re done you’ll still be able to change your settings whenever you want.”

I remember when I signed up for my Facebook account when I was a sophomore in college – this was Fall 2004, RIGHT when Facebook came out. Everyone at my school was so excited about this “new thing.” I think back and Facebook was so basic. When I first joined you couldn’t even upload pictures, let alone tag them, definitely no video, and there was DEFINITELY no Farmville. At the time, Facebook was this “cool thing” ONLY for college kids. Then they let high schoolers join. College students felt like under-agers were showing up at the party and totally ruining it. And so on, and so on.

Obviously things have changed.

Zuckerberg himself probably could never have anticipated the rate at which Facebook would grow and the impact that it would have on the world. Yes, the world. Facebook has completely changed the world. [Big bold statement, but you know it's true].

I actually had notices a few weeks ago that I was no longer listed in the Raleigh/Durham network. After poking around, it turned out a lot of people had been “removed” from their respective networks.

I understand the intention behind Zuckerberg’s decision to remove regional networks, but I have to disagree. I like being able to search for people in my “network.” It gives me a sense of connection and I’m able to reach out to people “locally.” It makes it easier to share local events, I can send out messages only to my friends in my network, I can contact friends in another network, etc. etc. etc. Not everything that I post is going to be relevant to ALL my friends. By being able to break my connections down by network, I’m able to make my relationships more personal and more meaningful.

I will be very interested to see how it works once it is all laid out and the new “network” (or whatever you want to call it) system is officially in place. It could end up being great. Who knows?

What do you think? Do you think Zuckerberg’s decision to remove regional networks is a mistake or a good thing? Do you like that it will be a “simpler” breakdown of “Friends” “Friends of Friends” or “Everyone”? Or do you think it’s no big deal? I want to know what you think…

[Just my two cents.]

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.

Maybe because it’s the day before Thanksgiving. Maybe because I’m in grateful mode. Maybe it’s because I just ran 2.5 miles. Maybe it’s because I’m craving a Chipotle burrito. I don’t know. But I’m feeling Thankful today.

Therefore, this week’s Social Media Tip of the Week is: Give Thanks.

Now, what exactly do I mean by that, other than the obvious literal meaning of “give thanks”? We all know, well hopefully most of us know, social media is all about community. It’s all about making personal connections, networking, sharing, supporting, engaging, and giving. However, I feel like sometimes well (yes, all of us) tend to forget what the big point of social media is all about. Of course this is not on purpose – we just get jaded by the things life throws at us and subsequently we lose sight of what is in front of us.

Sure, social media has many purposes – to connect with old friends, make new friends, market a business or product, whathaveyou. But to me, what makes social media so awesome, is how we’re taking away that traditional approach of “I-could-care-less-about-you-I-just-want-to-market-my-product” and we’re replacing it with “I-do-care-about-you-and-I-want-to-get-to-know-you-and-then-maybe-you’ll-buy-my-stuff.” Social media is different. It’s awesome. And it’s honest. It’s hard to be a good BS’er through social media – because very quickly you’ll be exposed… and not in a good way.

So what I want you to do this week is take a second to step back and think about your networks. Are you doing a lot of talking and not a lot of listening? Are you doing a lot of talking and not a lot of engaging? Are you recognizing those people in the space, “your space” for their great content, approachable personality, engaging persona, or overall awesomeness?

If you answered “yes” or “no” to any of those aforementioned questions – then you need to give thanks to the people who are awesome in your life, in your networking, at your job, anyone. Who or what are you grateful for? Thank them. Today. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Do it today.

Make someone feel awesome. They deserve it.

And while I’m thinking about it, I want to thank YOU. Yeah, you reading this. Right now.  Without you, I’d be talking to myself. And that would be awkward.

I also want to go ahead and preemptively thank my sister, Bridgid for the awesome Thanksgiving dinner that I know she is going to make tomorrow (with of course, my B-I-L and family helping). She’s a rockstar baker, cook, friend, and sister.

Tell me, who do YOU want to give thanks to?

Word.

I. Was. Tired.

Well, I’m not training for a full marathon, but yes, I AM training for a half-marathon. And I AM building a business.

I give you this disclaimer: I am neither an expert in building a business nor am I an expert in running or training for a marathon… but I can speak from my personal experiences.

They (I have no idea who “they” are) say that the first two years of starting a business are the hardest. I’ve heard some people say one year, some even say three years. And of course, there are the anomalies who build their business successfully in less than a year. Sometimes less than six months – I am jealous of those people.

I have been a freelance writer and consultant for over 3 years, and I have tried to turn my freelance work into a full-time business for a year. It’s hard. Really hard.

Seemingly-Unrelated-But-I-Have-A-Point: I am training for my first half-marathon. I don’t like to run and in fact, I’m a horrible runner. In high school I played golf, in part so I would never have to run suicides. But running is something that I have always wanted to be good at.

One of my goals for 2010 is to run and complete a half-marathon. That’s 13.1 miles. At first I told myself I would just run and complete a 10K (6.2 miles). But I knew that wasn’t good enough for me. I need to buck up and do it. So I, in 2010, WILL run and complete a half-marathon.

I have been doing short distance runs for a while, but I officially started my training a week ago. Yesterday, I ran the longest I have ever run in my entire life, 3.38 miles in 49:24 minutes. (It was a run/walk tempo run – that’s why it took that long). I pushed through when I didn’t want to and I did it. Now, I only have 17 more weeks of training and about 10 more miles to run.

Back to the topic at hand. Why would I compare building my business to that of training for a marathon? Here’s my rationale.

Building a business is hard work. Training for a marathon is hard work.

No one wakes up one morning and has a successful business that runs itself and makes them the big bucks. No one wakes up one morning and says, “You know, I think I’ll run 13.1 or 26.2 miles today.” People who run a successful business and people who run a successful marathon work hard to achieve those things. Neither of these things come easy.

When I’m working to build my business I work long hours or I work when I really don’t want to. I’ll work when I’m sick, I’ll work when I’d rather be spending the night out with my friends. But I am working to eventually make my business rock.

I hate running. And I hate the cold. Well, it’s almost winter, and I’m going to have to get used to running in the cold. I am sticking to my schedule and running even if I don’t want to. Why? Because nothing is going to get in the way of me achieving my goals.

Both of these things take resources. As I build my business I decide what’s an important resource and what isn’t. I knew I wanted to re-do my blog, and I knew that would cost me money. But I did it because it was important.

BIG UPS and huge thanks to Greg Lee and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro YMCA, I have a gym membership now. I have set myself up with a mobile training program and I am using their facilities to help me along the way. It’s all about using the resources and just asking when something is needed.

The key here is, whether you’re building a business or you’re training for a marathon, you have a process and the key is to stick to that process. Whether you have to blog every day, run every day, go to networking events twice a week, spend money on an important resource – whatever. Find a schedule, find a pattern, and COMMIT.

All of these things take hard work and dedication, but above all, COMMITMENT. If you don’t commit to your goal, you’ll never achieve it. Nothing is going to just “happen” for you.

What do YOU think? Do you have a different analogy you want to throw at me?

Word.

Photo courtesy of Agent-X Comics

Ahhh who doesn’t love awkward dating and mating social media vernacular? I am going to go out on a limb and say this scenario, although exaggerated, is probably happening at bars across America and beyond. The reasons this is happening are THREE-FOLD:

1. Social Media Vocabulary can be awkward. Poke. Tweet. Twitter. Twit. Tag. Digg. Write on your wall. Blog post. See? All awkward and carry awkward innuendos.
2. We are Social Media saturated. You and I both know, social media is err’ywhere. Walk into a coffee shop, a restaurant, a bar, a bookstore, a library – how many people are probably checking facebook, texting, or tweeting? They are even passing legislation in states making it illegal to TWEET while driving. Duh.
3. Boys are getting desperate. No, not all boys… and notice I didn’t say MEN. Men wouldn’t dare hit on a woman with a social media term. Boys, however, would. (And a woman, would never ask a man if she could “poke” him.) In fact, no lie, I was hit on once by a guy who yelled across a bar at me and said, “Yo! Female! Lemme get that backslash.” He was referring to my “myspace.com [BACKSLASH] username.” Needless to say, I did not give him my “backslash.” Not okay. Am I right?

The professional woman in me is disgusted by the utterly ridiculous attempts by boys to pick up women in this way. However, the comedian in me thinks it’s hilarious.

So, here is my FIRST OFFICIAL BLOG CHALLENGE/CONTEST: Leave a comment with your best awkward pick-up line that uses some sort of social network term OR tell me a hilarious story where you actually got hit-on using social networking terminology and the winner will receive a surprise prize. Get creative. Think outside the web? You know what I mean.

Word.

Since Facebook now allows you to tag other users in posts INSIDE Facebook - (I’m too tired to explain it here, - here’s a great Mashable post about Facebook status tagging) - many Facebook users are treating Facebook status updates much like they would Twitter tweets.

TAG! You're it.

So what are we, as Facebook users to do, if we want to repost and/or share Facebook status update we like? I’m calling it now. Or at least I hope I am – I haven’t heard anyone else call this yet. I’m trying to get on the ball right away.

Instead of a RETWEET (RT: a reposting of a tweet on Twitter) from here on out, a post of another user’s Facebook status will be called the RFB – a REFACEBOOK.

Here’s how it works:

• Step ONE: You see a Facebook status you like. Identify said Facebook status
• Step TWO: Highlight Facebook status. COPY Facebook status by either using the “Copy” feature in Edit or by hitting Apple C or CNTL C on a PC
• Step THREE: Paste copied Facebook status in YOUR OWN PERSONAL status bar
• Step FOUR: Tag the originator of the post by tying the “@” symbol and identifying the individual (see aforementioned post about Facebook tagging above)
• Step FIVE: Say RFB to indicate that this is a REFACEBOOK. Example: RFB: John Smith said a really cool thing that I support and/or think is funny so I want to RFB it, yo.
• Step SIX: Be awesome.

It’s genius. I love it. Who doesn’t?

So, spread the word. See a Facebook status update you like? Copy and paste it, @ tag the person who first said it, and RFB it! YAY REFACEBOOKING.

It’s the little pleasures in life.

All for now.