It truly is amazing what people, places and things will do online to get attention.  Maybe amazing is not the exact expression on what many people are doing on line.  Maybe Sad is a better description of how people look online when they act like a Knucklehead.

1. knucklehead

From the 1930′s (circa). Refers to a person of questionable intelligence. The size of the brain being given relative size of a human knuckle. Similar to pinhead.

2. knucklehead

A dunce. A dummy. A very stubborn person or animal.

I was originally going to title this blog..The Things Idiots Do Online…but thought I would hold it for a total different blog since what this blog is about has to do with the people who know what they are doing but really don’t seem to care what people really think of them.  They are more of a Knucklehead than an Idiot even though both have similar character traits.

This Let-Me-See-What-I-Can-Get-Away-With-Online attitude has been there since the beginning.  The internet, with its ability to allow someone to be almost completely anonymous, is used like a cloak by many people to hide behind.  Usually there are other reasons people have other than grabbing people’s attention.  Things like hiding who they REALLY ARE! or the type of business they REALLY profit from.

Truly, the people who do not post:

• a photo of themselves,
• anything on their profile stating their philosophies of life,
• anything relevant 
• anything based on reality…

…usually are being a Knucklehead for missing a great opportunity to be included in the social spaces.

So why are these people who know better want to be a Knucklehead?

Most claim they don’t want a certain person or group of people..like their bosses..to know they are online.  Many will become a knucklehead because they are deprived of attention in their real life.  Sometimes the real reason for fooling around with not being real has to do with some sort of malice actions they want to inflict on others.  Many who rather post a photo of a slogan, logo, brand or other character as their avatar do so as part of the failed attempt to draw attention to themselves factor. 

Still there many many of these knuckleheads who feel it is a violation of their privacy to tell anyone who they are or where they are.  Many think the information on who they are and where are will be used for other reasons. 

Their being unaware of the negative image people have of them is why they are called Knuckleheads.

Where do Knuckelheads reside?

Most of this foolish takes place on sites like Facebook and especially Twitter.  Google Plus and LinkedIn are not immune but at least they do cut many of these Knuckelheads off at the knees when they start doing something foolish, like spamming people or making foolish comments. 

Still, what is up with these people not wanting anyone to take them serious?  Most of the Knuckleheads feel they are being serious or at least feel people should take them serious.  When confronted they usually take to mounting a defense of their reasoning for not posting a photo of themselves as being ‘None of your business’ or the more famous rationalization I have received for being a knucklehead is ‘Oh Yaw!  Well I have more Friends on Facebook and Followers On Twitter than you!’..when I hear this I keep waiting for them to say “So, nah, nah, nah-nah, nah!”.

Real World View

So how do people really see those who do not post photos or provide vital information about themselves? 

In a recent study I did with my online and offline contacts, 85% said they would not and will never place anyone who is not taking themselves seriously into their network or community space. 10% said they usually confront people who attempt to Friend them on Facebook or Follow them on Twitter who do not provide photos and clear credentials. 4% said they don’t even acknowledge their existence.   Only 1% said they don’t care who Friends them or Follows them as long as that person Shuts Up and Listens.

SO!  Why do these people keep being knuckleheads?  Most do it because they have thousands of other Knuckleheads who support them.  Why?  Well we could keep going on attempting to answer the Why questions forever.  What it all boils down to why Knuckleheads want to be knuckleheads is because they are…. Knuckleheads.

Enough said..right?  Let me know how I can help.

Have you ever really thought about what you are seeing online as being Real or Not?  Better yet, have you really thought about the Twitter and Facebook streams the mainstream media..Television and Radio…show during their broadcast? 

Of course, like you, I have and those News Media programs using a mockup stream of their online social spaces during their Live broadcast  paints a sad picture of their lack of understanding of how those LIVE feeds make them look to their viewers.

I hear all the time from people attempting to convinces me they are profiting from their Twitter and Facebook feeds.  I will admit, many probably are, but are they profiting from posting content on those social sites or are their results coming from the offline efforts related to their online endeavors?  I have found the later is more likely since more and more studies are showing large amounts of consumers leaving Twitter and Facebook due to the increase in spammer, self promoters and narcissist broadcasting of worthless services/products.  Even the celebrities, who made Twitter and Facebook popular, have tired of the multitude of people attempting to get attention at their expense and are now handing the reins of their social spaces’ accounts over to PR Firms to represent them online. 

So the question most people and businesses ask today, after being on Twitter and Facebook for more than ten minutes, …is all this effort really worth it?  Who is it who sees these spaces as places to find products and services? Who sees these spaces as places of entertainment? So, who is it using these spaces since more and more people are leaving and why is there some much media saying these sites are growing each day?  If they are growing, who is it and are they people or things generating this growth?  Nobody can provide validated proof the majority of new accounts for any of the social spaces are created by real people. 

There is a growing belief amongst the billions of real people who frequent the internet that the majority of activity, on the so called popular pages and sites, is contrived.  Rumors have been many over the recent years on how a business will include in their startup fund enough capital to pay the salaries of dozens of people to open dozens of accounts on Facebook and Twitter and bombard their business’ Facebook Page and Twitter feeds with gushy posts.  Of course the sources of those rumors always beg for anonymity to providing the information knowing it would get them fired from those huge gravy trains.  However, like everything else generated from the internet, those rumors become the truth to many and that information is spread through the social spaces like a cancer which places the thought in everyone’s mind of apprehension everything posted online as possibly being contrived..or fake.  

But back to the mainstream media and their uses of Twitter and Facebook feeds scrolling across the screen during the live program to substantiate a point.  Naturally, the news anchors, on the most part, are just reading a script and furnishing a smile for the news they are reporting and have little understanding of anything going on with the way the story they are telling is being presented to the viewers.  Granted, recently I have seen a number of the news personalities backing off their constant posting of stuff on Facebook and Twitter.  Hopefully this means they are seeing that their efforts are like shouting to an empty room.  However, most of them still see and think the fast scrolling posts being streamed on the screen behind them reflects their popularity.

In fact, what their viewers are thinking is…who is  posting this stuff on the news station’s Facebook Page?  This is just the first of a long list of questions viewers have when they see the news channels’ Twitter or Facebook account scrolling at an unreadable speed.  That’s not the way it looks on Facebook!

The bottomline..the majority of viewers are unimpressed and mostly do not believe the news station has that many viewers interested in their program.

Granted, there are millions..maybe even trillions..of persons, places and things, roaming the internet who could possibly have posted a remark to their feed, but are they?  Indications are they are not. 

So, the main question becomes… Who are these people posting to the national news’ Facebook Page and are they REALLY people who are wanting to be heard…or people being paid to post to the feed so it appears the News’s channels Facebook Page is popular? 

Let’s remember..those News Stations are businesses and they make their revenue solely from sponsors.   And who just so happens to be displaying advertisement on the Twitter feed and on their Facebook page?…you guest it..their sponsors. This seems to be the reason the mainstream news media is broadcasting the streams on the Live program.  It is their attempt to push consumers’ attention to the sponsors sites.

So, are the Feeds being streamed on the TV Screen during live broadcast from real people..maybe?  Could they be faked?  Absolutely.  How will the skeptical online consumers, who have been scammed , spammed and schemed to death, see these feeds?  Yes again..most people are not going to believe the remarks posted are legitimate no matter how much anyone tries to substantiate it. 

So why are the News Media’s attempting to use these feeds to substantiate a point on an issue?  Why are they using them at all?  Is it because they have fallen for the same bad advice as many other businesses?

Lots of questions here..do you have any answers?  Would be exciting to hear them.

Let me know how I can help.

If you have been following me on Twitter and Facebook you know I use the term ‘Linkster’ frequently.  Since I get so many people emailing me asking what I mean when I refer to someone as a ‘Linkster’ I thought I would provide a brief definition I could refer to when I am asked this question.

Linkster: A person who:

1. plays Golf
2. posts in the social spaces (Twitter, Facebook..etc) online Links to blogs or articles posted by someone else and has no communication to those who respond to their posts nor cares to respond to any response or comment made to their any of their posts.

Obviously, I am referring to the second definition when I use the term in the context of how someone is socializing online.  Most of the time a Linkster will use programs and third party applications to automate their posts so they have little association with the social spaces they populate. There are a few Linksters who will manually post links and then leave the site without responding to anyone who is reaching out to them to get to know them better.

The individual Linkster usually are mimicking the larger businesses who are the major Linksters of the social spaces.  Their thinking usually is..if the big dogs are just posting links on Twitter maybe I should be doing that as well.

Linksters prefer their method of social networking to not be exposed and when confronted will explain they do not have the time to use traditional methods of social media and post ONLY Links to develop a higher Page Ranking.  Since this method of social (or unsocial) networking is looked down upon by the other residences of the social space the Linksters generally get blocked or deleted from people’s contact list since the majority of people using the social spaces are there to build meaningful relationships with the other members.

As Google and the other search engines move to clean up their feeds so more people will depend on their recommendation as being valid resources the Linksters method of social media will eventually be devalued, if not banned.  Unfortunately, many of the people who use the Linkster method of social media are part of a business or firm who has invested an absorbitant amount of funds in this type of marketing plan making changing to a more effective method of social media not an option.

Currently, the only way to get a Linkster to recognize the wrong doings of their method of broadcasting to their community is to confront them directly or to delete their profile from a contact list. Sometimes, seeing the number of followers diminishing will catch their attention or seeing their analytic programs showing their view rates dropping like lead balloons will get their attention.  Getting them to stop or change is the challenge since they have reams of unverifiable data they again paid dearly for that backs their reasoning for posting only links.  The only effective method of getting Linksters to move to more effective methods of social media have been those actions taken to reduce their revenue generated or bottomline.

Happy hunting for Linksters and hope this helps explain what I am talking about.

Let me know how I can help.

With all the changes being made in the social spaces over the past couple of years it really can be hard to keep up.  Unfortunately, many business people are not keeping up and are lagging behind in keeping up on how their Social Media campaigns change when the social spaces change.

There are three huge changes in social networking over the past year which, according to what I see going on in the social spaces, many business people are not aware of.  Here is a quick Update:

1.  Twitter is dying

There is no need in beating a deadhorse..sorry for the pun.  Much has been reported by many on why Twitter is Dead.

Since it’s launch the popularity of Twitter has been a mystery.  Conceptually Twitter would appear to a business as a place they could get their message out to a large number of people who are trapped at their computer or on their cellphones.  In reality, the appeal of pitching a product in less than 140 characters to billions is what killed Twitter.

The millions of businesses and thoughtless self promoters who hammered the Twitter feed with SPAM shutdown the interest of most consumers or business executives who just do not have time…or think more of themselves..to spend wading through dribble and Tweets of people checking into on Foursquare to announce they are entering a restroom. 

As a result the majority…vast majority…of people who view Twitter are not seeing any value to using Twitter to keep in touch with their contacts. 

Over the past year, the realities of Twitter have been seen by millions of business people..as well as people interested in how they spend their time online…as a place for time-bandits to reside.  This is resulting in Twitter being a place to Not Be! 

Of course, most of the large businesses and traditional mainstream icons of the business world who waited too long to enter Twitter are now making lame attempts to justify their existence on Twitter with tons of unverifiable stats produced showing their success on Twitter.

As it is true, there are some advantages to being on Twitter, the small list of reasons for using Twitter really does not justify the time when there are more productive social spaces.

2. Facebook Has Jumped the Shark

Yes, the stable icon of social networking that set the pace for many online social networks, and is part of the lives of many who grew up with Facebook, has started its descent into mediocrity.  As social-social network goes, Facebook is King…as far as a platform for quality-social networking Facebook is slipping to number two or three as effective use of time. 

There are many people still under the impression that business networking in a purely social network is the ultimate in social media for their business. However, today, promoting your business on Facebook is like trying to sell something to your brother-n-law…it just is not that productive.

As is the case in most endeavors that have been around too long, they start trying to find new ways to make something old look new and exciting..Jumping the Shark as it is called. 

Facebook remains the best place to communicate effectively with personal friends and family, but for businesses it is like giving a powerpoint presentation at the Thanksgiving Dinner table.  Business networking and social networking come apart in Facebook which is pushing many business people to pack their bags and go searching for better places.

3. Google Finally Takes Control

The biggest change in social networking, business networking and Social Media was made with Google Plus (G+) was launch.  Finally, the information giant introduced to the world a platform that effectively will change socializing. 

Even though most of what Google is planning to offer is behind tightly drawn currents, what they have shown thus far is very impressive..on a number of levels.  It is very obvious, they are focusing on developing a platform that can be shared both as a business marketing tool and a pure social network.

The phrase ‘Game Changer’ is over used in describing the power G+ will have over how we deliver our message, both professionally and socially.  Right now, Google is allowing people to build their foundation and get use to the tools they are introducing.  Those who ‘Get it’ have moved their primary operations to G+ and operating on a pure social level while waiting on the business portion of G+ to launch…a smart move more people need to make.

Google’s approach to spoon feeding the Internet with small portions of what they have developed is another sign of Google’s intelligence and understanding of Human Nature.  Their control on keeping their platform real by filtering out the scammers and people not taking themselves serious  will be the magnet that draws more real people to come online.  This will only strengthen Google’s position as the place to go to get real information.

The real value of Google Plus is in the searchablity of information.  Knowing that what is posted on G+ works towards building a professional and social image of the person who posts the information is what makes being on the Internet worthwhile. 

Gone are the days of posting a Tweet and wonder if anyone see it..of taking weeks to build a Facebook Page only to get 5000 Likes from people wanting only for you to see them and care nothing about seeing you.

The social space has really changed and it troubles me to see people I know floundering on Facebook and Twitter while the changes being made in today’s social networking has move way pass that environment.  The excuse.."Why should I change?  All my friends are on Facebook or Twitter!"… will become less valid quickly.  I really hate seeing hardworking people wasting their content and time in spaces losing ground.

Hopefully, more will see the value of the changes in social media and change with them.  Let me know how I can help.

In talking to businesses who are heavily using social media to promote their products I found they are no longer impress with seeing large numbers of Followers on Twitter.  They are are turning their attention to connecting with real people who are more probable consumers.

The days of blasting out very expensive messages, videos and other marketing campaign material to large numbers of Followers who have not been validated as being an interested consumer are finally coming to an end.  The businesses who are showing greater success are the businesses who manage their communities thoroughly.

How the Successful Manage Their Twitter Account

Managing your followers and friends on Twitter is not easy. However, its a fact your businesses success ratio and influence power is directly proportional to how active your Followers and who they Follow are.

It now is more important to know who Follows you instead of how many are Following you.  It is also essential to know how active your Following is.

Some of the factors that determine your influence power on Twitter are:

• Interaction with Followers
• How active your followers are.
• How frequent your Followers ReTweet your tweets.
• Whether your Followers regularly updated and have a good Following of real people
• Those you Follow are Following you back etc.

With the default options on Twitter, its not really easy to manage your Followers, but here are some interesting web based applications I found to be of great help. Hope you find them useful too.

6 Ways to Clean Out Waste from your Twitter Account

1. Mass Unfollow those who are not Following you back with JustUnfollow

I believe there is no use in following people who aren’t reciprocating on Twitter. Why waste your time if none of your Followers are viewing what you post?  I use this tool weekly, to check for people who aren’t following me back. It automatically UnFollows everyone who aren’t following you back. JustUnfollow.

2. Find out common users Following and being followed by two accounts

This is a great tool to find people to build solid social relationships with. This program identities two power user accounts from your niche and then identities who they keep in contact with the most.

Running this tool will more or less reveal the “hidden” circle among your Followers. It is good to know whom to Follow. But again..do not go out Following People who have no intention Following YOU..it’s a waste of time and very foolish method of Social Media. This app will require a lot of work and knowing how to use social media effectively.  If you are not interested in taking the time to connect before Following, then don’t waste your time with this program  Who follows whom

3. Unfollow people who have not updated within “X” amount of days

This is one of the best ones out there. It lets you find out the tweeps in your Followers who have not posted an updated within a specified number of days (you can decide how many days is it) and lets you UnFollow them. Extremely helpful when it comes to keeping your Followers group healthy. Untweeps

4. Find out who’s following who on Twitter

This is a very powerful tool that reports to you if those people you are Following are Following you back or not. Again, if someone is not Following you back, then what good are they offering you?   FriendorFollow really highlights how influential you really are and how influential those not Following you are.

It can be used for a different purpose. You can check out one of the power influencers in your niche who is popular and is often re-tweeted. You can find whom he is following and what are his sources. Simply use this tool, give in the username and it will show you who all are Following him/her, his friends and fans. The good thing is that you can sort them by the number of followers they have. So if you want to steal a power users “precious friends”, this tool comes in pretty handy.  Friendorfollow

5. Find out common followers between accounts

If you’re unsure whether to Follow someone or not, just use this tool to find out if you have common interests and whether there are peoples you are following in common. TwtrFrnd

6. Like the Terminator, but with an attitude

Tweepular is probably the most recent and powerful of the programs. It has almost all the features of all the others for managing Twitter Followers. This one is worth checking out.

Just remember, Twitter does have a lot of accounts, but not all of them..probably now not most of them..are live accounts.  Add in all the people who are on Twitter that do not read other posts or post to Twitter from 3rd party sites.   Twitter is not the wonderland of opportunity many people want you to believe.  Just keep the focus on building a community of sharing people and you will not have to worry about those who want to play games on Twitter.

Keep your Twitter Following clean..they are the center of your Social Network.

Let me know how I can help,

Contact Scot Duke for a Complementary 30 minute Evaluation Session. When it comes time to check your business’ direction it’s time to talk to someone experienced in business operations.

I was really encouraged to see Yvonne Teems-Stephens’,  Dayton Business Journal Contributor, blog… Lawyers seeing potential in social media. It is a concise report on how Lawyers should embrace using social media as part of their practices marketing. 

“Today’s lawyers more and more use social networking tools to market themselves and their businesses and to network with colleagues and potential clients. While it’s not uncommon to hear some lawyers disparage use of the tools, many in the field embrace them and see them as ways to advertise (for free) and to make connections. “

I tend to agree with Ms Teems-Stephens whole heartedly with how a few of the attorneys I see out in the social spaces using social media effectively.  Unfortunately, it is only a few.  Lawyers are a whole different level of business professional who’s actions are governed like no other profession making what an lawyer can say and do in public very concerning.  This makes using social media very risky and does have repercussions if they are perceived to be less than professional

However, in talking to a few of the lawyers I have as clients, there are ways to maintain a professional image in some of the social networks.

The Space to Occupy

Most attorneys readily accept LinkedIn as a base camp for displaying a clear professional image.  Facebook can be used effectively once the nuances of how to use Facebook is understood.

Unfortunately, very few lawyers I have worked with and spoken to in offline business networking arenas accept Twitter as anything they are interested in using.  I totally understand why. 

Most social mediaist will agree Twitter is not forever one.  Twitter is not a tool for demonstrating a clear professional image. However, having a presence on Twitter does have merit on a minor level..very minor at the very best.  Actually the only sensible reason for an attorney to have a Twitter profile would be for the validation of their existence to that social network. 

So, what level of activity should an attorney have on Twitter?

The hard cold facts is Twitter may not be the place for an attorney concerned with their professional image.  Unlike the advice many attorneys who are using Twitter may have received, I can contest the typical viewer of Twitter is not out to gain any knowledge from what an attorney would post on Twitter.  Even the benefit of the Google search of Twitter post would be of little benefit to an attorney since a Twitter post from an lawyer combined with the other more credible information they have posted on other sites would lessen their image as someone who is serious about their profession.

The clear and only way to use Twitter effectively is in carrying on a conversation.  The problem is, over the  past year the amount of fruitful, clearly understood, conversations is nearing extinction.  Responses to Twitter posts are so few it would be a waste of an attorney’s personal or professional time to gain a following only to have less than 1% of their post viewed.

The focus for an lawyer should be in using social spaces that offer the ability to control their image and the content that supports it.  I am sure we can all agree, it is impossible to be clear and concise on any issue in just 140 characters.  Social media is a powerful tool and can be used for every business.  It just has to be understood,… there are some places that work better than others for some businesses.

Let me know how I can help…