Header Images:

Twitter has introduced Header Images in the vein of Facebook Cover Images, accessable across all platforms. The header image is viewed on the Twitter profile page – the page the general public gets to when they are searching for your brand.

So far, no limitations on logos or calls to actions - great news for charities!

The introduction of header images also brings the avatar from the far left corner and places it center in the header image. Bios are also brought from the left corner to centered on the header image. The bottom of the image greys out automatically to highlight the text of the bio, which may impact decisions on what image to use.

To change the header image, go into the settings option, under design (https://twitter.com/settings/design) Under the Customize your Own section, it allows you to upload an image. The image space is about 520 x 260. Once selected, you can arrange the placement of the image. Be careful on the sizing, if the image is too wide for the space, Twitter may push the graphic to the background instead of into the header image.

Photo Streams:

The second update to Twitter is the ability to view photos on profiles on the mobile apps. In addition to the header images being visible on all apps, photo streams now appear below recent tweets.

The Today Show mentioned this update and has already changed their properties, if you'd like to see this in action: https://twitter.com/todayshow

Here is the Twitter blog post for the new changes: http://blog.twitter.com/2012/09/because-you-have-more-to-show.html

There is absolutely no reason why you do not get a Google Alert about your brand. As a lead in the public persona of the brand you represent, you should know what’s being said about your brand outside of the social media channels you are on. It’s also a great place to get quick top line updates about the topics that are relevant to your brand.

Helps you stay ahead of the curve.

Figuring out the hows of social media shouldn't be complicated. These are just a few guides to build a social media strategy piece by piece.

Wouldn't it be great if you could answer 5-10 questions about your social media goals, your staff time and your audiences and poof - get set up on the social media channels that will be perfect for your organization?

Yeah, me too.

Unfortunately for all of us - there's no secret formula. What works for you doesn't always work for me. But there are a few things you can do to make the channel selection process less painful than a year of A/B email testing.

5-10 questions that may help you find your own secret formula:

Casper Hedberg for The New York Times (from article)

This is an amazing idea – get actual people who represent your “brand” to guest Tweet. Sure, it gets unruly. Absolutely there are going to be missteps. But if your brand is about people – why not get those people to share what they think is awesome about life?

Check out the article from the New York Times. The gist is – each week, a Swede is selected to run the @Sweden twitter account. You can’t nominate yourself – but once selected –the general mentoring you get is: Remember how many people are following you and be good. (Sounds like the first line of my social media 101 workshop) People as young as 16 and youngish as 60 have been selected so far.

This strategy is the sort of thing that gets me excited about the way we communicate via social media. The Swedish government sanctions this. It’s how Sweden hopes to show the diversity of its people and build tourism.  That sort of risk taking and brand identity sharing is needed with social media. Yes, even among community managers. We manage the community – we don’t have to be the sole voice of the community.  We thrive on authenticity – what’s more authentic than allowing your consumers (or citizens) to speak for themselves?

Update: Did I speak too soon? Aparently, the citizen from this week is a troll (someone who posts to entice controversy) Sweden has not stepped in to censor her - they are decidedly against censorship. Definitely check out the story, it's going to be interesting to see how they handle the negative (and offensive posts) this week.

from flickr

Being a community manager means spending a lot of time in social media communities. Unfortunately, if you spend too much time in them – you will dry up your creativity quickly. If you are anything like me, you have to schedule fun. (Yes, it’s really blocked off on my calendar) Getting offline is important – it helps you engage in things outside of your bubble and balance your life.

Plus, I get my best ideas when I’m doing something completely different from the current project or problem.

In honor of June – here are a few offline things I’m doing this summer:

• Reading.  I love reading. Everything. People always ask me what I recommend and sometimes I’m shocked when I realize I’m not reading anything. I used to read three or four books at a time all the time. So I’m reading classics, new books from the NY Times Book Review and compiling a Lifetime Reading List.

• Pies. I love baking. But, I’m trying to eat healthier, so making 2 dozen cupcakes is not the best way to help myself. So this is the summer of PIE. I already made an apple pie from scratch. Next up, blueberry pie or shepherd’s pie. (hey it still has pie in the name!)

• Exploring. Every time I leave NYC, I realize how much I love it. Still, I get swept up into work and don’t get the chance to get out and try something different.  So each week – I do something different and force myself to go somewhere new. Like this week – I’m going to Golden Girls/Designing Women trivia night.

• Running.  Last year I came in dead last in a 5 mile race. I’m not a runner, but I wish I was. Runners say that signing up for a race helps you get your butt in gear. So I signed up for the same 5 mile race AGAIN at the end of the month and now have 19 days to train so I can come in at least SECOND to last.

• Crafting. I love making things. I took a hiatus while in school and really miss making things. So I’ve started a few craft projects that HOPEFULLY will get done by Christmas. (This includes finally finishing a college scrapbook, two knitted scarves and sewing a quilt)

Figuring out the hows of social media shouldn't be complicated. These are just a few guides to build a social media strategy piece by piece.

First of all, is ‘newsjack’ a legit real word? I guess it has to be if there is already a book about it. I’m not typically a fan of figuring out a way to slip your fundraising or marketing messaging into a trending topic or current theme – but there are definitely times every organization should try to jump into the current events news game.  Newsjacking is like being able to double dutch jump rope – once you get the timing right and know how to do it, it gets easier and easier to handle.

According to Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage, “newsjacking” is the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.

So how do you know when to “newsjack”? Here are a few things to keep in mind.

How's that for March Madness?

Figuring out the hows of social media shouldn't be complicated. These are just a few guides to build a social media strategy piece by piece.

So you are on social media. You’ve got a twitter account. You’ve got a Facebook page for your business. Now what? Charlie Sheen amassed over a million followers virtually overnight. The Vatican has over 6 million views on YouTube. Justin Beiber has over 17 million followers on Twitter. Why hasn’t everyone realized how awesome you are and begun following you as well?

Here are 5 steps to get more followers.