@adamparnes

Shel Holtz wrote about how businesses are using two different types of Twitter accounts to engage their customers/clients.

He first describes the difference between a television character’s blog posting to the actors personal blog. He argues both blogs are not mutually exclusive and serve two purposes. The first blog connects with the television show’s fans and the second blog is used by the actor to stay connected with their fans. Both work well, if done right. Shel is not a fan of branded/character blogs, but does see their usefulness.

The question of which type of blog to use, branded or personal, is moving into the Twitter universe. Is it best to use a branded Twitter account or a personal Twitter account? Here’s Shel’s answer:

…don’t be too fast to dismiss logo [branded] accounts on Twitter. If they serve the purpose for which they were created, there’s no reason to fall victim to the punditry that suggests they’re some kind of misguided, clueless mistake.

He argues that branded Twitter accounts, like CNN, serve a purpose and work well. CNN is trying to deliver news as soon as possible and to as many people as possible.  He compares CNN’s Twitter use with Dell’s. Dell uses a branded account as well as personalized accounts. Both work because they serve different purposes. Dell’s branded account is used to deliver sales at its outlet store while their personalized accounts are created to help build relationships with their customers. Both branded and personalized accounts work when focused on the right audience.

Here’s some great advice from Shel:

One of Twitter’s strengths is its flexibility. It can be used for just about anything you can dream up for it. In most instances, I agree that the authentic human touch is important. But to suggest that it’s a requirement, that every branded logo account would be better if it contained a real person’s name and avatar, is a mistake. It locks organizations into an approach that may honestly not be the best way to achieve their particular goal.

I agree 100 percent. As an early Twitter user, I wrestled with using a branded account instead of a personal account. When I was considering which direction to go, I thought about my goals. When I first created @applekoolaid, the account was being used to drive traffic to my applekoolaid.com blog. Using the branded account worked well, until I decided to migrate my Internet presence to my personal blog, adamparnes.com. I decided I wanted to brand myself as well as take a more personal approach to Twitter. I renamed my Twitter account to @adamparnes and haven’t looked back. Now I have the best of both worlds: branded and a personal Twitter presence.

The best aspect of Twitter is its flexibility. You can use an account for anything you dream up. Having a purpose and an idea of the audience you’re trying to reach, will help determine what type of Twitter account will work best for you. I agree with Shel, it depends.

The WordPress iPhone app was updated to version 2.2. The update brings the ability to reply to and edit comments, as well as highlights new comments in the list. Since the recent WordPress app updates and a few tweaks to my blog settings, I moved this app to my iPhone home screen. It’s become a ton easier to blog from my phone from anywhere I have Internet access.

Next, Heavy Mach 2, one of my favorite iPhone games at the moment. The game was updated to version 1.3 and adds a Sea Side Base and map as well as armor items. The armor items are a nice addition, since it’ll help keep your tank in one piece. I have no clue what the last update brings, Game BGM. I’ll have to play around with the update and see if I can figure it out.

Here are the Google applications I’m currently using:

1. Search
2. Shopper
3. Image
4. Chrome
5. Maps
6. Reader
7. Voice
8. Docs
9. Gears
10. Gmail
11. Local
12. Groups
13. YouTube
14. Earth
15. Talk
16. Analytics
17. Custom Search
18. Adsense
19. Picasa
20. Blogger

I didn’t think it was possible to use 10, let alone 20 Google products.

What Google apps are you using and how?

Over the years I’ve used at least three or four different content management systems to run my blog. I can honestly say moving my blog to WordPress was a great decision.

I only have one problem with WordPress, even though it’s so easy to manage and be creative, I’m still not blogging as much as I want. No matter how slick the wrapper or how easy it is to manage, a blogging platform can’t help you blog more.

What are the reasons I don’t blog very often? It’s not that I don’t have plenty of free time on the morning and evening bus/train commutes or in the evening while I watch TV or play videogames or while I workout on the elliptical machine. It’s not for the lack of topics or ideas I have either.

What’s at the core of why I’m not blogging as much as I’d like? I think I’m scared no one will read what I have to say. I don’t think I have a sense of grandeur. I know I’m not the most skilled or engaging writer. I actually consider myself pretty dry and really need to work on adding some humor or wit. I’m getting off point… I think the sheer size of the Internet is scary. For the vast majority of folks who blog, most posts just echo in space. Is a blog post a blog post if no one reads it? Is it enough to just enjoy writting?

I think if I would just jot down a few of the ideas or thoughts I have a week, I would feel a lot better about managing my WordPress blog. I think if I could get to a point were I am able to write 2 to 3  posts a week I’d be pretty happy. A nice bonus would be if someone actually reads what I write. Baby steps first.

My alma mater, Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, recently mailed an alumni newsletter, Newhouse Network, focusing on the future of journalism. The article was a forum of professors and professionals waxing poetically about the demise of journalism and what’s next for the industry. This topic is near and dear to my heart because I’m a magazine journalism major, class of ’99, and love all forms of media.

I’m also a fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Last night’s episode included a segment about the demise of newspapers. “Reporter” Jason Jones interviewed New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller and Assistant Managing Editor Rick Berke. Jones asked Berke why “aged news” was better than “real news?” Jones followed with, “newspapers are aged, name one thing that happened today?” Berke could only name a few items that didn’t happen yesterday.

Here’s the dilemma, print newspapers have become one of the many sources of news. This is a huge shift in power and money. Newspapers used to be “the source” of news. Everyone used to read a newspaper to be in the know and for more in-depth analysis of world events. Today, newspapers print “old news.”

We’re in the midst of an evolution; some would even say a revolution. The power and money once held by newspapers is being dispersed throughout the Internet and 24 hour cable news channels. Two examples of the traditional media disruptors are Craigslist’s classified business and Google’s advertising.

It’s too late to focus on the problems of traditional media. I consider traditional media to be newspapers, magazines and local/national TV news. The only way for “traditional media” to survive and thrive in this new age of citizen journalism, is to look at the possibilities.

Anyone with a blog, twitter account or even Facebook account should consider themselves citizen journalists. This idea can be pretty scary for a university that offers traditional newspaper, magazine and broadcast degrees.

Currently, the fastest growing news sources are hyper local blogs. An example of a hyper local blog is the Restonian. The Restonian is a blog that only follows and reports on news and happenings in Reston. It’s become a more legitimate news source recently when the head of a local civic association complained that blog was in fact not a traditional news source. I believe acknowledging the blog, actually legitimized it.

“Traditional media” needs to look to the future. A possible future when printed newspapers are no longer delivered to subscribers’ homes, local citizen journalists will have more clout and advertising revenue, news aggregation will be as important as publishing original content, newspapers are no longer for-profit and when the skills being taught at journalism schools become interdisciplinary.

I believe converting newspapers and other news sources from for-profit to not-for-profit as a viable and a good idea. The biggest problem with newspapers today is that they are not making enough profit, and their parent companies are not able to provide the needed shareholder returns. Going not-for-profit, or even employee owned, would allow newspapers and other news sources to focus on producing and delivering great content. It’s a win for journalism, a win for journalists and a win for their audiences.

Another evolution could be the creation of a new Media degree by combining newspaper, magazine and broadcast degrees. This new program would equip students to have the multifaceted skills needed in today’s evolving media environment. I believe specializations are a career limiting endeavor. Possessing general print and broadcast skills with a solid journalism background would be much more marketable, and to me, more fun.

It’s pretty late in the game for traditional media to change and correct their course. Every day now provides an opportunity to look to the future and envision how traditional media can stay relevant and evolve. If they don’t, they’ll become what Jason Jones coins as, “A walking Colonial Williamsburg.”

I thought Major League Baseball understood new media, but they don’t and can’t deliver.

MLB actually took a few steps backward by removing their official MLB.tv blog. The MLB.tv blog included updates and comments about their new video player and the technical issues they were working through. Now when you visit mlbtv.mlblogs.com you are redirected to MLB.tv support. Brilliant!

Here’s a good article about MLB.tv’s issues from computerworld.com.

Instead of being transparent and communicating with their fans, and paying customers, MLB decided to retreat. MLB is missing a great opportunity to engage their customers and communicate about their problems. Most folks are reasonable and if they knew what was going on and the issues MLB was working on, they’d be more likely to understand.

By removing blog posts and comments, MLB is creating the perception they aren’t being 100 percent honest. Perceptions are the only thing that matters when someone is considering paying over $100 for HD streaming video of their favorite baseball team. I know I’m going to hold off even considering MLB.tv until they are more forthcoming about their problems and engage their customers.

MLB was doing the right thing, but when they hit a few bumps they retreated from the openness their fans and customers expected. MLB is making it even worse, since they were more open and engaging before their mistake to remove their blog.

I’m really considering shuttering applekoolaid.com and redirecting the url to adamparnes.com. I used the applekoolaid username and Web site for the last couple of years, but I think I really need to use my real name as my brand. Cutting and pasting articles really isn’t doing it for me. I want to start creating or at least adding to the discussion on topics I’m interested in.

I’m also trying to figure out how to integrate my twittering and blogging. I tend to spend a lot more time and attention on twittering than I have on blogging. I enjoy blogging and need to refocus my time and attention.

I started to only dip my toes into the twitter stream, instead of jumping in. I don’t think I missed much. I’m able to search twitter for people and topics. It definitely saves a lot of time and energy.

I’ll make a decision about what to do with applekoolaid.com by the end of the week. I’m leaning towards redirecting to adamparnes.com and putting a lot more time and energy into adamparnes.com.