Debbie Weil's BlogWrite for CEOs

What Does “Writing 3.0” Mean to You? (Quick Poll)

2009-11-05T16:14:01-05:00

Choose an answer and click Vote. Then you’ll see the results. Interesting.

No Punditry: Just Exploring Twitter Lists

2009-11-03T23:01:00-05:00

No need for me to wax expert on Twitter's new List feature as Mashable, TechCrunch and many others are doing that. (Here's a video showing how to create a List.) Frankly nobody is an expert yet. We're all curating (creating lists, culling them, joining others, etc.). Here's my round-up of Washington DC tweeps whose 140-character musings I find useful or entertaining.

Women

I will point out that the number of lists featuring smart women in tech or social media is very cool. Examples here and here and here. Listorious notes lists tagged women and social-media-divas and all-the-geeky-ladies.

Twitter List Widget

You can grab the Twitter List widget here. Apologies, can't display here. It doesn't seem to work inside Expression Engine, which this site is built on.

Fall Leaves: Stop and Look

2009-10-25T22:29:00-05:00

I have this thing about trying to get the perfect picture of fall leaves. This was on a rainy day, taken with my Canon G10, a great all-around small camera. Below is another pic I snapped with my iPhone with blue sky behind the trees. Both were taken in my neighborhood from almost the exact same vantage point.

Sneak Preview: an Updated Site Design and New Logo

2009-10-21T19:58:00-05:00

If you're not interested in Web site design, stop reading right here. If you are... take a peek at my redesign by the clever folks at Viget, featuring an "illustration" of yours truly as well as my new logo with the @ sign, designed by the talented Erick Anderson. Erick won the logo contest I ran on Genius Rocket. More on that later.

I've gotten positive and negative feedback on the illustration. Mostly negative. So we've decided to put a headshot there instead. (Below is a very rough mock up. We're still fooling with the background colors.) The illustration is an interesting idea. But doesn't feel quite right. One colleague called it "off brand." A Facebook friend called it "playtime." Another longtime colleague said simply, "Away with the avatar; we want to see Debbie." And one of my grown children said, "OMG who is that scary lady. Get rid of her."

We'll also be adjusting the background colors to make my new logo "pop." The goal of the redesign is to make clearer what I do (i.e. consult and speak) and to de-emphasize my blog.

I'm not a blogger. I'm someone who blogs. According to Technorati's just released State of the Blogosphere 2009, that puts me in good company. "Professional part-timers," as Technorati calls them, are one of the biggest segments of the blogosphere. And of those, 72 percent blog to attract new clients.

So while blogging is an integral part of my public face on the Web, it's no longer the only way I lay down a digital footprint. I Twitter more than I blog, I post regularly to Facebook and I've recently become a much bigger fan of LinkedIn (which has a new set of interactive features).

Stay tuned. The new site won't be up for several more weeks.

Useful Links

Technorati's State of the Blogosphere 2009

Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra's slidedeck on the 2009 findings

Next Best Thing to Attending BlogWorld Is Visiting the Home Page

2009-10-13T12:14:00-05:00

You've heard about live blogging, video streaming and live tweeting from an event. Don't forget a good old-fashioned home page crammed with content to make you wish you were there. I can't attend BlogWorld this week in Las Vegas (I spoke at BlogWorld '07) but anyone can learn a ton about this high octane event by visiting www.blogworldexpo.com.

On the home page are preview video interviews with keynote speakers like Guy Kawasaki, Kara Swisher and Scott Monty, links to the Twitter page (transparently written by conference organizer Rick Calvert), an active Facebook event page and Flickr photos from BlogWorld 2008. There are also clearly labeled hashtags.

Hashtags are a way of aggregating everyone's tweets about a similar topic or event so they can be more easily found. This year it's #bwe09 on Twitter and #blogworld09 for Flickr photos.

There's also the obvious content for those interested in attending: an easy-to-spot register button and a button for hotel info (always a consideration in Vegas).

One quibble

One quibble with the page design: the full conference agenda is hard to find. You have to scroll way down. And I don't see a Twitter stream, either from @BlogWorld or using an app like TwitterFall that aggregates tweets using #bwe09.

On Garbage Cans and Writing For Facebook, Twitter and Blogs

2009-10-09T18:17:00-05:00

The subtle differences between how one uses Facebook, Twitter and a blog are very interesting. I'm continually trying to explain this to clients. Strategy aside, there are distinct differences in how you talk or write for the different platforms.

Simply put, you write in a different "voice" and, generally, talk about different topics. So while I posted an "endorsement" of trash can liners on Facebook this morning, I probably wouldn't tweet about trash cans - or garbage bags. FWIW I'm buying the special trash can liners from SimpleHuman.com. This socially media savvy company (they also have a blog) places a "Share via Facebook" link on the checkout page. Clever.

Now I am writing about this on my blog, but only as an illustration of how these platforms are different. And yes, the different audiences are key to what makes me change my message and voice.

On Facebook, I have enough family members and friends that I figure they won't be too surprised to learn that I have garbage in my house, I must dispose of it and that I've discovered a cool new garbage can and special liners for it.

When Gmail & Twitter Go Down: “I Thought It Was Just Me”

2009-10-08T16:54:00-05:00

Have you noticed this? Although we're all "connected" 24X7 through our fave social networks, when the services go down we somehow think we're ALL ALONE and that it's only happening to us. That was my reaction along with many others this morning when Twitter became frozen in time. Ditto when Gmail went down recently.

Psychologists have had a field day with this phenomenon, speculating on whether the Internet makes us more lonely or disconnected, instead of the reverse (see here and also here from Lee Rainie of the Pew Internet Project). Usability guru Jakob Nielsen wrote about Internet loneliness in 2000.

Just sayin'.

Thrilled to Guest Post For Mashable: 5 Ways to Write RT-able Tweets

2009-10-06T20:33:00-05:00

I’m a huge Mashable fan so I’m delighted to link to my first post for the best everything-you-need-to-know site for all things social media and tech. Read my article: 5 Ways to Write Retweetable Tweets. Rule #1: Always include a link…

BTW Twitter Does Not Make You Fascinating

2009-10-05T12:08:00-05:00

How easy it can be to forget…

WJLA-TV on Twitter: Do You Really Care?

2009-09-24T01:04:00-05:00

Feature segment on Washington DC's ABC news affiliate WJLA-TV (Channel 7) aired today, asking - and answering - the question: do you really care what your friends are doing? Not if it's: going to the bathroom, going to the doctor, sitting in traffic. Segment quotes me as the "expert," advising Twitterers to "put their best foot forward." And noting that "you can smell" self promotion online.