Its 2012 if your business is not on Twitter now is the time to get going.
This simple little cheat sheet will help new Twitter users navigate the seeminlgy complex Twitterverse and help make your tweets more productive.
Sending a Tweet on Twitter
It is this easy set up a profile. See that little box at the top of your Twitter home page which reads
“What are you doing?”
Type in a tweet in this box and then press “Update.”
But, remember, you have to express yourself in only 140 characters! Think of it as a text but it is NOT PRIVATE
Reply to a Tweet
See a tweet you would like to reply to? Hit the reply button under the trash can next to the specific tweet and Twitter will automatically populate the text field with the user’s screenname so you can reply.
Delete a Tweet
Send a tweet before it was done? Visit your profile page on Twitter and click the trash can icon next to the tweet to delete it from the Twittersphere.
Hash Tag # on Twitter
See the “#” on Twitter and wonder what it could mean? The hashtag helps Twitter users designate keywords to conversations that are popular. For example, #McDStories A Twitter campaign by McDonald's, aimed at highlighting good news relating to the fast food chain, completely backfired when people used the hashtag 'McDStories', to highlight their horror stories.
Twitter’s search function.
To designate a keyword, tweet and let folks know about it. For example, I might tell friends and colleagues to use # to discuss an offer #Special Offer #Discount. Dell and Starbucks use this feature very successfully.
RT Retweet on Twitter
Read something funny or noteworthy that you’d just like to ReTweet?
Enter “RT” then “@” and then the Twitter username who authored the original tweet, then the original message. But, remember, the 140 word limit also applies here, so keep it brief, even extracting a portion of the original tweet if necessary.
OH on Twitter
Want to ReTweet something but don’t want to reveal the original author? Enter “OH” then the original message. “OH” stands for “overheard,” and helps us reiterate an earlier message without reveal (or embarrassing) the tweet’s author.
HT on Twitter
Heard something from a Twitter user in real life? Tweet this information using “HT,” (which means “Heard Through”) then the “@” and then their Twitter username.
And of course you can follow me @louiserobertson see how some of my clients are using twitter @primemarketltd, @metricofficeinteriors, @woo, @LiveEnsure
Monday, 9 January 2012
Friday, 2 December 2011
Clever Social Media Activity Can help any Business.
Whether you’re one of the world’s superbrands or a small, local supplier, clever Social Media Campaigns can help raise product awareness, increase sales, drive footfall, add fans, improve SEO and online visibility.
Or justplain make people think ‘cool, I like that company’.
Lets keep this simple, everyone wants to increase direct web traffic then you to use social networking websites can effectively help you promote your website, services and blog as well socializing/schmoozing your clients.
START :
Cynics amongst you watch the latest stats to great soundtrack!
Or justplain make people think ‘cool, I like that company’.
Lets keep this simple, everyone wants to increase direct web traffic then you to use social networking websites can effectively help you promote your website, services and blog as well socializing/schmoozing your clients.
START :
- Sign up on Twitter.
- Make an attractive profile on Twitter for your website or blog.
- Use your blog's logo or sign as a display picture.
- Your Twitter profile as a front page of your website in which you are running your business. It has to look perfect and then you can increase followers.
NEXT- Hotting up the actions
Start socializing on Twitter. Start making relationships of mutual nature with people who belong to the same industry in which you are working.
TWITTER TAG Its like a game of tag... generally if you follow a client, industry specialist or interested party they will return the favor by following you.
STAY ACTIVE Stay active on the Twitter, daily retweets, replys and news feeds, not hours but. if you are socializing for traffic generation.
You can share anything you want to.
- Paste links of your website or blog on Twitter.
- Retweet news on products in your sector
- Tweet promotional offers.
- Tweet business updates.
Facebook can also be used in exactly the same way to direct visitors to your website or blog. You need to start with setting up a Facebook page and the rest is quite similar except that the interface is different.
Get more people to your Facebook page and stay active not only on your profile but on the Facebook page as well.
It isn't rocket science its social media!Cynics amongst you watch the latest stats to great soundtrack!
Monday, 17 October 2011
Planning for Crisis.. Don't hide...
When a Crisis happens, the internal meeting and panic begins.
Legal seeks to stop all communications and reduce liability, whereas communications teams become overly aggressive and spin all communications in the most positive light they can.
Those differing points of view often cause delay, confusion, and the wrong messaging at the worst possible time.
Sony waited a full six days before alerting PlayStation users of the data breach, which infuriated not only customers but also legislators.
When managing a data breach crisis, here are seven general guidelines to follow.
1. Expect to have a crisis event
It's less about if you will have a crisis and more about when. That is especially true in today's networking age, where a 100% secure networking environment does not exist.
Chances are good that you will have a data loss or breach event, especially if you're in a targeted industry such as consumer, hi-tech, banking, aerospace and defense, or healthcare.
2. Have a predefined crisis communication plan in place
A predefined plan, at a minimum, should be a framework of how to handle a breach and should offer guiding principles for communications.
For companies that have identified some specific risks, such as stolen customer data, the plan can have scenarios charted out. For example, what would the plan be if credit card numbers were stolen?
Your plan should also list the members of the crisis team, the guiding principles of your communication (open, honest, factual, etc.), the designated spokespeople, and even templated communications reviewed by Legal.
Review the plan from time to time to ensure it stays fresh in everyone's mind.
3. Acknowledge the problem immediately
Take a lesson from the Sony saga. A crisis event is not the time to circle the wagons. According to Jonathan Bernstein, president of Southern California-based Bernstein Crisis Management and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay: A Media Training Manual, "You can't hide anymore."
"If a crisis occurs in Biloxi, Miss., or Muskoka, Iowa, if it appears in the local paper, it is an international situation instantly because of the Internet," BusinessWeek quotes him as saying.
Thus, any communication professional who thinks they can just shove an incident under the rug is grossly mistaken. The longer you wait to disclose the issue and its potential risks to customers or stakeholders, the worse off you will be.
4. Become the news-breaker
Companies lose when they do not become the news-breakers, instead remaining the newsmakers. The crisis is yours, so use that to turn the tide and become the irrefutable source of accurate and timely news.
5. Use social media
As we learned from the recent uprising in Egypt, Twitter is often the first place news breaks. As Fast Company blogger (and principal analyst at Altimeter Group) Brian Solis recently wrote, "News no longer breaks, it tweets."
Understand that in the era of socially enabled communication, you're no longer in control. Nevertheless, the new (and more powerful) tools you have will help you turn the tide from being the newsmaker to becoming the news-breaker.
6. Be accountable
Once the news about the crisis is out in the open, people will automatically begin to question who is at fault. The answer (respectfully, from one communication professional to another) is you, a member of the marketing and communications team.
I know, I know, you probably had absolutely nothing to do with it. It may have been Bob in IT, evil hackers, or some third party you worked with two years ago, but your customers could care less.
Still, you are ultimately responsible for communicating to not only your customers but also the general public. Own the issue and identify what you're doing to resolve it. If you don't know the full details, say so, but offer a timeline and series of steps you'll take to shed light on what you're going to do next.
Be honest, open, and transparent. The public and your customers will respect you more, and your brand will face less scrutiny in the end. The moment that doubt of transparency or honesty has been seeded, you will be behind the eight ball in managing the crisis.
7. Make it right
And by "make it right" I don't mean offer those affected (customers or whoever else) free movies or other ridiculously inadequate consolation prizes, as we have seen happen far too often. Even if you can't make it right instantly, as Sony was clearly unable to do considering that the PlayStation Network was down for weeks, tell those affected what you will do. And do it quickly. You need to figure out what the best resolution will be ahead of time, even if it is impossible to resolve the problem right away.
Sony did attempt to make amends by offering US users a year of free identity-theft protection, backed by a $1 million insurance policy, along with a package of free games and movie services as compensation. However, Sony waited weeks to present users with what ended up being little more than a peace offering.
Once again, we can learn from Johnson & Johnson here because it recalled everything, and did so immediately. The first Tylenol-related death was discovered on September 29, and on October 5, Johnson & Johnson recalled all 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation in the US. The company moved at Internet speed even though the Internet wasn't around at the time.
* * *
Those seven steps, though a good start, are by no means comprehensive. Every brand and situation is different. Regardless, think ahead and expect the unexpected! Sony is a multibillion dollar corporation, so I'd venture a bold guess that it actually has a crisis-communication plan stored away, collecting virtual dust on a server somewhere. And I'm certain that remaining silent was not part of it.
Don't just have a plan. Make sure your team knows the plan and can implement it when necessary. After all, you don't want to become another "lesson learned" in the marketing annals.
Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2011/6128/a-seven-step-guideline-in-crisis-communication-lessons-from-the-sony-playstation-network-breach#ixzz1b2Xc0di8
Legal seeks to stop all communications and reduce liability, whereas communications teams become overly aggressive and spin all communications in the most positive light they can.
Those differing points of view often cause delay, confusion, and the wrong messaging at the worst possible time.
Sony waited a full six days before alerting PlayStation users of the data breach, which infuriated not only customers but also legislators.
When managing a data breach crisis, here are seven general guidelines to follow.
1. Expect to have a crisis event
It's less about if you will have a crisis and more about when. That is especially true in today's networking age, where a 100% secure networking environment does not exist.
Chances are good that you will have a data loss or breach event, especially if you're in a targeted industry such as consumer, hi-tech, banking, aerospace and defense, or healthcare.
2. Have a predefined crisis communication plan in place
A predefined plan, at a minimum, should be a framework of how to handle a breach and should offer guiding principles for communications.
For companies that have identified some specific risks, such as stolen customer data, the plan can have scenarios charted out. For example, what would the plan be if credit card numbers were stolen?
Your plan should also list the members of the crisis team, the guiding principles of your communication (open, honest, factual, etc.), the designated spokespeople, and even templated communications reviewed by Legal.
Review the plan from time to time to ensure it stays fresh in everyone's mind.
3. Acknowledge the problem immediately
Take a lesson from the Sony saga. A crisis event is not the time to circle the wagons. According to Jonathan Bernstein, president of Southern California-based Bernstein Crisis Management and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay: A Media Training Manual, "You can't hide anymore."
"If a crisis occurs in Biloxi, Miss., or Muskoka, Iowa, if it appears in the local paper, it is an international situation instantly because of the Internet," BusinessWeek quotes him as saying.
Thus, any communication professional who thinks they can just shove an incident under the rug is grossly mistaken. The longer you wait to disclose the issue and its potential risks to customers or stakeholders, the worse off you will be.
4. Become the news-breaker
Companies lose when they do not become the news-breakers, instead remaining the newsmakers. The crisis is yours, so use that to turn the tide and become the irrefutable source of accurate and timely news.
5. Use social media
As we learned from the recent uprising in Egypt, Twitter is often the first place news breaks. As Fast Company blogger (and principal analyst at Altimeter Group) Brian Solis recently wrote, "News no longer breaks, it tweets."
Understand that in the era of socially enabled communication, you're no longer in control. Nevertheless, the new (and more powerful) tools you have will help you turn the tide from being the newsmaker to becoming the news-breaker.
6. Be accountable
Once the news about the crisis is out in the open, people will automatically begin to question who is at fault. The answer (respectfully, from one communication professional to another) is you, a member of the marketing and communications team.
I know, I know, you probably had absolutely nothing to do with it. It may have been Bob in IT, evil hackers, or some third party you worked with two years ago, but your customers could care less.
Still, you are ultimately responsible for communicating to not only your customers but also the general public. Own the issue and identify what you're doing to resolve it. If you don't know the full details, say so, but offer a timeline and series of steps you'll take to shed light on what you're going to do next.
Be honest, open, and transparent. The public and your customers will respect you more, and your brand will face less scrutiny in the end. The moment that doubt of transparency or honesty has been seeded, you will be behind the eight ball in managing the crisis.
7. Make it right
And by "make it right" I don't mean offer those affected (customers or whoever else) free movies or other ridiculously inadequate consolation prizes, as we have seen happen far too often. Even if you can't make it right instantly, as Sony was clearly unable to do considering that the PlayStation Network was down for weeks, tell those affected what you will do. And do it quickly. You need to figure out what the best resolution will be ahead of time, even if it is impossible to resolve the problem right away.
Sony did attempt to make amends by offering US users a year of free identity-theft protection, backed by a $1 million insurance policy, along with a package of free games and movie services as compensation. However, Sony waited weeks to present users with what ended up being little more than a peace offering.
Once again, we can learn from Johnson & Johnson here because it recalled everything, and did so immediately. The first Tylenol-related death was discovered on September 29, and on October 5, Johnson & Johnson recalled all 31 million bottles of Tylenol in circulation in the US. The company moved at Internet speed even though the Internet wasn't around at the time.
* * *
Those seven steps, though a good start, are by no means comprehensive. Every brand and situation is different. Regardless, think ahead and expect the unexpected! Sony is a multibillion dollar corporation, so I'd venture a bold guess that it actually has a crisis-communication plan stored away, collecting virtual dust on a server somewhere. And I'm certain that remaining silent was not part of it.
Don't just have a plan. Make sure your team knows the plan and can implement it when necessary. After all, you don't want to become another "lesson learned" in the marketing annals.
Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2011/6128/a-seven-step-guideline-in-crisis-communication-lessons-from-the-sony-playstation-network-breach#ixzz1b2Xc0di8
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Stop telling your Customers, start socialising with them!
I don't mean taking the whole lot to the pub, but online.(Although I still firmly believe face to face works, I prefer a nice bar like Mei in Chobham)
With all the current fuss about customer experience, the most common sense model in the age of social networks seems to be an hourglass, not a funnel. In a webinar hosted by Crowd Factory, Altimeter Group’s Jeremiah Owyang cited Joseph Jaffe’s book “Flip the Funnel,” which says that many companies spend all their time and energy on trying to lure customers to the point of purchase — and then stop investing in those customers once the transaction has been made.
Owyang said an hourglass model, which places value on customers both before and after the purchase, can help grow a company’s customer base by gaining customer loyalty and promoting customer advocacy.
Be where your customers are
If a pre-existing online community or social site can suit your needs, don’t waste time coming up with a new one. (Have a facebook Wall, a Youtube Channel, a twitter account and Linkedin Group/Company Profile.) Bring these to live don't just put the dull stuff up! Look at how well Innocent bring their product to life http://innocentdrinks.typepad.com/innocent_drinks/2011/08/say-hello-to-granny-leanne.html
Reviews
Todays consumers swear by reading online reviews, and people trust friends or connections reviews much more than they trust ads.
Enable your sites to Socially Share
Let customers show their intent to purchase. ASOS, M&S and Ebay do this very well.If customers are excited to buy your product, let them shout it from the digital rooftops. Give customers a way to advertise their new purchase through social avenues that they already use. adopted Imbed the Facebook “like” button on your website, so customers can show friends .
Make purchasing a game.
Use social features to allow your customers to share the point of purchase with friends. Consider adding gamelike elements that offer incentives for customers, such as a discount or extended service contract for customers who get their friends to purchase the same item.
Online Support
Use a multilevel strategy to save your employees’ energy for answering the tough questions. Post FAQs on your website and encourage customers to communicate with one another to work out issues on a peer level, then dispatch your employees for customer service questions that require an expert.
Reward customer loyalty.
We are living in the era of clubcards and coffee loyalty cards, so reward your customers loyalty rewards used to be all about value, now in the age of social media, such things as badges and game mechanics can be an even better prize for some customers.
Make your advocates your advertisers.
Work hard looking after your loyal customer base, then you can watch it go to work for you in the form of positive reviews, both in person and across digital channels.
Credit to Owyang of Crowd Factory who pointed out that customer advocates are the cheapest form of advertising and also the most trusted.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Privacy on Facebook, is it a Generation thing?
Privacy on Facebook is still trending topic, with normal people being’ fraped’ and drama’s involving identity theft hitting the press every day.
Common Sense will protect you:
Whenever you want to post something on Facebook, stop and think.
Is this something that anyone would be allowed to see ?
(My mother is on my friends list will she blush!)
If you can feel confident the posting won’t come back and bite you: click the button
If no, think twice before posting !
Maybe you use Facebook to communicate your feelings to friends so you are not prepared to make this consideration each time you want to post something? So take care with your settings what your friends can see. Make sure to do this ! Without these your images and messages can be sent out across the web without you knowing.
Here is a great blogpost on protecting your privacy on Facebook :
http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-privacy-tips-2010-01
THOSE Embarassing Photos seem funny today... but
This is a guideline to heed and you can be sure that those wild or drunk pictures can only be seen by your drinking mates who were with you at that wild party.
Make sure your boss or colleagues will NOT be able to see this photo album.
Of course I believe authentication is key to protecting users on facebook, and I am sure we will see them taking steps to protect us from the not so funny side of identity theft very soon.
Maybe privacy is most of all a problem of our generation ? The world is changing and so are the rules.
This blogpost and links was inspired by the great Geert Conard- full post below.
http://geertconard.blogspot.com/2010/09/privacy-on-social-media-video.html
Common Sense will protect you:
Whenever you want to post something on Facebook, stop and think.
Is this something that anyone would be allowed to see ?
(My mother is on my friends list will she blush!)
If you can feel confident the posting won’t come back and bite you: click the button
If no, think twice before posting !
Maybe you use Facebook to communicate your feelings to friends so you are not prepared to make this consideration each time you want to post something? So take care with your settings what your friends can see. Make sure to do this ! Without these your images and messages can be sent out across the web without you knowing.
Here is a great blogpost on protecting your privacy on Facebook :
http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-privacy-tips-2010-01
THOSE Embarassing Photos seem funny today... but
This is a guideline to heed and you can be sure that those wild or drunk pictures can only be seen by your drinking mates who were with you at that wild party.
Make sure your boss or colleagues will NOT be able to see this photo album.
Of course I believe authentication is key to protecting users on facebook, and I am sure we will see them taking steps to protect us from the not so funny side of identity theft very soon.
Maybe privacy is most of all a problem of our generation ? The world is changing and so are the rules.
This blogpost and links was inspired by the great Geert Conard- full post below.
http://geertconard.blogspot.com/2010/09/privacy-on-social-media-video.html
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Tweetastic Tips
If you are just starting out on Twitter, it can be pretty confusing. If you have been using it for a little while, it can STILL be confusing. But once you get the hang of the motion in the ocean, Twitter can help you make waves.
Here are my Top Tweet tips:
1. TARGETED Followers count, not NUMBER of Followers porn stars and teenager do not make for good followers: many Twitter accounts is that the administrator either focus on thousands of followers Twitter is definitely a numbers game, but that only plays a percentage into the effectiveness of your Twitter campaign. Finding the right, targeted audience to interact and engage is key.
www.Listorious.com can help you locate the best people a wonderful site that helps you search by subject, keyword and more.
ww.Wefollow.com which offers a similar outlook.
Follow the RIGHT people, not hundreds of faceless people who can be either spammers or extremely infrequent users.
2. Don't Like Twitter, Don't Use It: By Twitter I mean Twitter.com.
If you haven't been on the site for a few months, you might want to check back in. Twitter has really worked hard to make bold strides in design to make it easier to understand and navigate. Free platforms such as HootSuite and TweetDeck allow you to get use Twitter on your own means with interfaces that are much more user-friendly.
3. Lists: What is a Twitter List? Say for example that you wanted to know what your competition is tweeting about. Go to Twitter and start a list called "competition", then add all of the competitors that you want to follow. Then you can simply login, go to the list, and read every tweet that has been said by the members of the list. This is a great monitoring tool and also great for interaction.
4. TEO: TEO is simply Twitter Engine Optimization # Hash tags are a great way to make your post friendly for people searching about your subject matter. Say you are a recruiter looking to fill a secretary position in Geneva. After your tweet about the vacancy, you can add hashtags such as #secretary #officejobs #geneva to make your post easier to find when people search for the key terms. It takes practice...but works!
5. Share: "I don't have time to tweet," find ways of making your life easier. That is where RSS feeds, Google Alerts and more come in. Find content, sites and topics that you enjoy and then get them sent directly to your inbox. When you get the feed or alert, look through to see if there is anything worth sharing on Twitter.
9 times out of 10 there will be, so go on and share the story and link!
Easy as that! Look out for retweet icons and simply click and share add your comment.
It is a great way to stay abreast of the latest news, while helping engage, entertain and educate your audience.
Twitter gets you in front of audiences of thousands while increasing your profile, visibility and brand recognition.
Follow:
LouiseRobertson
LiveEnsure
RossMac2310
Here are my Top Tweet tips:
1. TARGETED Followers count, not NUMBER of Followers porn stars and teenager do not make for good followers: many Twitter accounts is that the administrator either focus on thousands of followers Twitter is definitely a numbers game, but that only plays a percentage into the effectiveness of your Twitter campaign. Finding the right, targeted audience to interact and engage is key.
www.Listorious.com can help you locate the best people a wonderful site that helps you search by subject, keyword and more.
ww.Wefollow.com which offers a similar outlook.
Follow the RIGHT people, not hundreds of faceless people who can be either spammers or extremely infrequent users.
2. Don't Like Twitter, Don't Use It: By Twitter I mean Twitter.com.
If you haven't been on the site for a few months, you might want to check back in. Twitter has really worked hard to make bold strides in design to make it easier to understand and navigate. Free platforms such as HootSuite and TweetDeck allow you to get use Twitter on your own means with interfaces that are much more user-friendly.
3. Lists: What is a Twitter List? Say for example that you wanted to know what your competition is tweeting about. Go to Twitter and start a list called "competition", then add all of the competitors that you want to follow. Then you can simply login, go to the list, and read every tweet that has been said by the members of the list. This is a great monitoring tool and also great for interaction.
4. TEO: TEO is simply Twitter Engine Optimization # Hash tags are a great way to make your post friendly for people searching about your subject matter. Say you are a recruiter looking to fill a secretary position in Geneva. After your tweet about the vacancy, you can add hashtags such as #secretary #officejobs #geneva to make your post easier to find when people search for the key terms. It takes practice...but works!
5. Share: "I don't have time to tweet," find ways of making your life easier. That is where RSS feeds, Google Alerts and more come in. Find content, sites and topics that you enjoy and then get them sent directly to your inbox. When you get the feed or alert, look through to see if there is anything worth sharing on Twitter.
9 times out of 10 there will be, so go on and share the story and link!
Easy as that! Look out for retweet icons and simply click and share add your comment.
It is a great way to stay abreast of the latest news, while helping engage, entertain and educate your audience.
Twitter gets you in front of audiences of thousands while increasing your profile, visibility and brand recognition.
Follow:
LouiseRobertson
LiveEnsure
RossMac2310
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Alone Together: A Scarey but true reflection on Social Media
The title of Sherry Turkles book, Alone Together, is chilling.
People are totally into email, Facebook thumbs-up/thumbs-down settings, a paradoxical thing happens: even though you're alone, you get into this situation where you're continually looking for your next message, and to have a sense of approval and validation.
You're alone but looking for approval as though you were together--the little red light going off on the BlackBerry to see if you have somebody's validation. Texting is the same thing. (My husband became text obsessed recently and it was part of his disconnection with us his family. He called it a distraction I think it became an addiction.)
Sherry makes a statement in her book, that if you don't learn how to be alone, you'll always be lonely, that loneliness is failed solitude. We're raising a generation that has grown up with constant connection, and only knows how to be lonely when not connected. This capacity for generative solitude is very important for the creative process, but if you grow up thinking it's your right and due to be tweeted and retweeted, to have thumbs up on Facebook...we're losing a capacity for autonomy both intellectual and emotional.
Twitter
Sherry thinks it's an interesting notion that sharing becomes part of actually having the thought. It's not "I think therefore I am," it's, "I share therefore I am." Sharing as you're thinking opens you up to whether the group likes what you're thinking as becoming a very big factor in whether or not you think you're thinking well. Is Twitter fun, is it interesting to hear the aperçus of people? Of course! I certainly don't have an anti-Twitter position. It's just not everything.
So find time to be disconnected, talk to people and keep things real, it is so important we are humans not machines.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1716844/alone-together-an-mit-professors-new-book-urges-us-to-unplug
People are totally into email, Facebook thumbs-up/thumbs-down settings, a paradoxical thing happens: even though you're alone, you get into this situation where you're continually looking for your next message, and to have a sense of approval and validation.
You're alone but looking for approval as though you were together--the little red light going off on the BlackBerry to see if you have somebody's validation. Texting is the same thing. (My husband became text obsessed recently and it was part of his disconnection with us his family. He called it a distraction I think it became an addiction.)
Sherry makes a statement in her book, that if you don't learn how to be alone, you'll always be lonely, that loneliness is failed solitude. We're raising a generation that has grown up with constant connection, and only knows how to be lonely when not connected. This capacity for generative solitude is very important for the creative process, but if you grow up thinking it's your right and due to be tweeted and retweeted, to have thumbs up on Facebook...we're losing a capacity for autonomy both intellectual and emotional.
Sherry thinks it's an interesting notion that sharing becomes part of actually having the thought. It's not "I think therefore I am," it's, "I share therefore I am." Sharing as you're thinking opens you up to whether the group likes what you're thinking as becoming a very big factor in whether or not you think you're thinking well. Is Twitter fun, is it interesting to hear the aperçus of people? Of course! I certainly don't have an anti-Twitter position. It's just not everything.
So find time to be disconnected, talk to people and keep things real, it is so important we are humans not machines.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1716844/alone-together-an-mit-professors-new-book-urges-us-to-unplug
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