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The Age of Entitlment in Social Media

Disclaimer: The Age of Entitlement attitude is not limited to age, nor do all Generation Y-ers have that attitude.

Generation Y, those babies born in the 80′s and 90′s, have been dubbed the Generation of Entitlement.  There is a plethora of articles from business journals to psychology magazines describing the typical attitude of Generation Y-ers.  Early in my teaching career, seminars on how to deal with this type of attitude and expectations were common, even at major universities.  We were warned that these generation of students were demanding.  They wanted exams grades posted within hours of the exam.  They wanted credit for effort, regardless of mastery or completion.  The phrase “But I tried….” was fairly typical.

The first lecture class of 250 freshmen I taught was likely the poster children of this attitude.  While that class was soon under control with a reality check, I decided that there had to be a serious culture setting procedure right from the beginning.  I use old school teaching methods where I set expectations high, keep my grading scale difficult, and ban all misbehaviors from my classroom.  Any student that has an unpleasant attitude is asked to leave, forever.  I also show Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture video, and I insist that all my students perform as well as his students did.  Needless to say, by the end of the semester, the generation of entitlement is turned into the generation of hard work and gratitude.

There’s no attitude switch for the Generation Y-ers when they enter social media.  The attitude of give me, credit me, and make me feel special persists everyday on social media.  It doesn’t take long to see someone on Twitter complaining about what they should have gotten.  Just show up late to a party advertising free food and free drink.  You’ll hear the Generation Y-ers complaining about how they didn’t get any free food or free drink that they deserved.  Some businesses have reported hearing the “I’m a Yelper so you should give me free food/drink.”  Sadly, that’s not unheard of from unscrupulous bloggers as well.

It isn’t any secret that I was a born in the 80′s.  I’m technically a Generation Y baby, and I’m embarrassed about the attitudes and behaviors of my generation.  Some people assumed that I was given things like my house.  Sorry, I bought my house when I was 21 by saving up all that I had earned as being a nanny.  I could afford to invest in my hobbies because I worked many hours during my early years of graduate school.  Now that I started my own business, I get emails and phone calls from people asking me how I did it.  The short answer is, “I worked hard.”  Fortunately, my doctorate is in social psychology so I had a knowledge base that translates easily into marketing and social media.  But most importantly, I worked hard to build up my skill sets and to build relationships that now support my business.

I very happy to help others get started in social media.  On the other hand, I’ve been contacted by many generation y-ers about social media and food blogging.  Most recently, someone who had only been on Twitter for two months was now wanting to start working as a social media consultant.  This person was straight out of college with no work experience to boot.  I was speechless.  Had Generation Y babies completely forgotten about hard work, learning from mentors, and earning a reputation?  Did they not realize that many successful people worked their way up?  Gary Vaynerchuck is living it up now, but he started from a basement, literally.  Rachel Ray is highly successful now, and she started making only $50 per show.

So what can you do if you’re a business that faces the Age of Entitlement regularly?  I’d advise that you set a strict policy on how to deal with the most common challenges you have.  If your business regularly gets people asking for free product because they are active in social media, implement a policy on how to handle those requests.  Hint: A complicated policy requiring those people to send you samples of their writing and/or detail the impact their strategies have on your type of business usually sends them on their merry way.

If you’ve got that Entitlement attitude, don’t be hurt.  Just be prepared to work hard.  If you fail, just try again.  If you have a passion for something, look for a mentor to help you cultivate that passion.  Show gratitude.  Thank people for their time.  Thank people for helping you.  Open your ears to criticism.  You can’t improve if you don’t know where you need it.  Look for communities in which a hardworking attitude is required and rewarded. This Week in Startups is one I highly recommend. @Jason is the complete opposite of a Generation Y-er.  If you haven’t watched Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture, this is the time to do it.

Yelp Changes means Businesses need to Clean up their act

Yelp is trying to turn things around.  Public distrust.  Angry business owners.  Three class-action law suits.  Yelp has been on many people’s naughty list lately, and they have implemented something new to turn that all around.  They have allowed previously “filtered” or “suppressed” reviews to be viewed by anyone and everyone.  Here’s several links to the details on that, and I’ll avoid rehashing all that information.

Yelp’s Official Blog Post about Filtering

Mashable’s Blog post about Filtering

However, I spent a large chunk of time studying Austin business reviews, and here’s what it means to users and to businesses (from my limited information that is).  I noticed that some businesses has only 10% of reviews filtered while others had more filtered reviews than reviews visible (i.e. 28 reviews visible, 47 filtered).  The percentiles were highly variable.  I haven’t seen any patterns to them yet.  A few other things I gathered included:

1. Yelp has increased it’s transparency, and that is bad news for sneaky businesses out there. With the filtered reviews exposed, I easily found many businesses who wrote themselves shill reviews either using their own names or only writing positive reviews for other businesses they owned.  It appears that even if reviews are flagged by the community as being fake (i.e. the master debater’s thread) they are either filtered or deleted due to violation of terms of service (TOS).  While I can’t be absolutely certain due to the limits of information I have, I think they are deleted and placed below the filtered reviews.  You can’t read the reviews anymore, but you can see who wrote them.

2. One thing I do notice is that the filtering system is fairly ineffective.  Sometimes it filters out people with 20 reviews, yet it leaves people with only one review unfiltered. Sometimes it filters out people who have spent a significant amount of time writing a thoughtful review, yet it leaves people with one-line reviews visible on the business page. That’s the problem with having an algorithm do your work.

3. The users who have filtered reviews (if everything is truly computer run numbers) should have all their reviews filtered.  I did find this to be true for the few people I researched on Yelp, but I can’t be absolutely sure that this is true for all users who have filtered reviews.  Also, on the user(s)’ profile page, it does not show whether or not their other reviews have been filtered.  It is also unlikely that any of these users know that their reviews have been filtered.  Theoretically, there should be a waiting period for all new users who have to work their way out of the filter by crossing whatever threshold the algorithm uses.  Yelp does not inform new users about that they are being filtered, which can be good or bad.  New users probably have a difficult time understanding the concept of filtering, and it might scare off new users from joining if they have to read a bunch of rules and regulations.  However, I think that if new Yelp users were informed of this filtering mechanism, Yelp might see more engaged new users.  That’s all speculation though.  I can’t think of any psychology studies examining commitment to a social community if there was a heavy time investment upfront without immediate reward.

4. It appears that some administratively removed reviews are never shown in the deleted reviews. I noticed very recently that Yelp had administratively deleted all reviews for a business if they were written before the business officially opened (i.e. Urban An American Grill and Lick it Bite it or Both).  After the business opened, those reviews did not reappear nor did they appear in the filtered or deleted review section.  It is my understanding that Yelp administrators would send an email to each of the users informing them that the review was removed.  However, there have also been some claims about missing reviews without an email from administration.  It does appear that all other administratively removed reviews that were flagged by the community do appear in the deleted review section.

My advice for businesses is to scroll through your filtered reviewsIf they were written by yourself, your employees, or your friends, delete them as soon as possible. These reviews might have been previously filtered and not visible to the Yelp community.  Now that they are visible to the Yelp community, users might feel as if you were trying to fool them with fake reviews and retaliate.  You might have escaped the master debater’s thread previously, but now you can’t hide those filtered reviews.  Even if users flag them now as shill reviews, they might still end up in the deleted section.  Deleting them now from the accounts you’ve (or employees or friends) created is the only way that they will disappear.  Additionally, reviews that are deleted are not searchable and do not come up in Google searches.  Threads, however, have no delete or edit button.  If you are called out on a thread, it is there to stay forever.  *Google can find quotes from filtered reviews though.

Yelp has taken steps to be more transparent, but that also means that the businesses must also be more transparent.  You can run and hide, but not for long.

March 26, 2010

A Restaurant’s Guide to Impressing Diners with Service Dogs

Have you ever felt help like you couldn’t control your body?  Perhaps you couldn’t walk.  Maybe you couldn’t see.  Maybe you couldn’t hear what people were saying.  According to the United States Census Bureau, about 5.4% of Americans are living with a disability.  One valuable furry creature that has been making the lives of people with a disability better is the service dog.  For this post, I’ll be using the term service dog to include any dog (or monkey or pony) that assists a person with disability.  This includes, but is not limited to guide dogs, hearing dogs, seizure alert dogs, and mobility dogs.

A service dog can be trained to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bullet Retrieve dropped objects or a phone
bullet Balance a person when walking
bullet Open Doors
bullet Turn on/off lights
bullet Retrieve a telephone
bullet Guide a person during walks
bullet Alert a person to every day sounds like a baby crying or a knock at the door
bullet Alert a person when they sense an oncoming seizure

Dogs are intelligent and highly useful creatures.  When I was on crutches, my Mouse would pull me around the house in a rolling chair and fetch items for me.  Mouse had already been taught to pull in draft training and to fetch items in water rescue and obedience training.  Additionally, service dogs can be trained to complete very complex tasks.  My late trainer’s dog completed a very difficult task one day at Pace Bend Park.  My trainer, Dick, took both his dog out on a boat.  Dick threw his cane overboard while in the middle of the lake.  Buddy, his service dog, jumped out of the boat, fetched the cane, and brought it back to the boat.  Buddy then pulled the boat to shore.  Needless to say, Dick was a great trainer, and Buddy was a wonderful dog.

Dick, Chase, and Buddy on the boat back in 2004.

The value of a service dog is that they give people freedom to live their lives more independently, and that value is priceless.  As Austin is a very dog friendly city, it may be difficult to determine whether or not a dog is only a companion dog or a service dog.  Here’s a friendly guide for restaurants on some challenges and etiquette when serving a guest with a service dog.  Please see Keep Austin Dog Friendly for etiquette that companion dog owners should follow when dining out with their dogs.  A big thank you for Sheri Soltes from Texas Hearing and Service Dogs for providing much of this information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bullet By law, a service dog is allowed to accompany his/her handler anywhere he or she may go.  That means that the dog is allowed in restaurants (not just the patio), retail stores, banks, and hotels.  Even if the hotel does not allow pets, a service dog is allowed by law.  The hotel must accommodate and allow the service dog, regardless of the dog’s size.  Hotels may not charge a pet fee for the service, however, the handler is responsible for any damage that the dog might cause. 
bullet Service dogs aren’t always easy to identify. Disabilities are not always visible or obvious. While many of service dogs may wear vests with logos, some will not.  Service dogs come in many breeds and sizes depending on their function.  If a person identifies their dog as a service dog, I wouldn’t interrogate the handler anymore.  Comments and questions such as, “Well, you don’t look disabled.” or “What kind of disability do you have?” are highly offensive.  Avoid those types of remarks. 
bullet Please do not pet a service dog without first asking permission from the handler. The handler might instruct you on how or when to pet the dog.  Please do not be surprised if the handler requests that you not disturb the dog.  Remember, these dogs are working all the time.  They do need a break once in a while.  Additionally, the handler may be using the quiet time under the table as a training tool.
bullet Please do interact with the dog’s handler.  A common mistake that one might make it to completely ignore the dog’s handler and to speak only to other people at the table.  Also, please don’t direct your questions to the dog.  The dog’s handler is your customer.  It is a restaurant’s job to provide service to the customer, not to make a big deal about a dog. 
bullet Many handlers will ask their dogs to remain in a down position during their visit. Please don’t bark at the dog, call the dog, or throw food at the dog.  Don’t ask me why people bark at dogs. I don’t understand it. 
bullet Most of the time, the handler will let you know where it is most convenient to be seated.  The handler may have a difficult time navigating through a sea of tables, un-level ground, or stairs.  Occasionally, diners with a service dog might be seated in an isolated corner by the staff.  This may make the diner feel as if he or she is a nuisance or bothersome.  Dining out is not something we do to just to fill our stomachs.  Dining out is a social experience that should involve good food, good drink, and good company.  To make someone feel as if his or her party is isolated from the rest of the world does not make for a positive dining experience.  All diners should be seated in such a fashion that they feel that their patronage of your restaurant is appreciated. 
bullet If other diners do not wish to be seated near a service dog, the proper course of action would be to offer the other diners another seating arrangement.  It is considered improper to move the party with the service dog. 
bullet A service dog’s handler should carry water for the dog along with supplies to clean up/pick up. While a restaurant not required to provide water for the dog, it doesn’t hurt to ask if the dog can be offered water. 

Any other questions about dining out with service dogs can be sent to Jennie@chenergyconsulting.com or you can browse the Texas Hearing and Service Dog website for more information.

Adri and Cookie, photo courtesy of THSD

Dining out with a service dog, photo courtesy of THSD

Stephanie Racier and Excalibur, photo courtesy of THSD

March 24, 2010

SXSW Wrap up. Thanks to @kitchenaidusa @bakespace @pn_atx @suerostvold

Here’s the wrap up the SXSW interactive along with some tidbits from various panels.

*From building Facebook games, two components have been found to make a game successful: 1. Creativity and self-expression in profiles. 2. Competition.

*From another panel called Friends, Fans, and Followers, use the power of participation and engagement to build a community. The examples used were running a contest for best recreation of OK Go’s video. That contest spawned creative entries and gave people something to talk about.

*The panel also said to go where your audience already is. Use activist groups, and community groups that are already in place and already attract your target audience. For instance, don’t try to start a community where there already is one. You’ll only be dividing your efforts and be competing for time with the other community. Instead, work with the existing community.

*You can also invite guest bloggers to reach other readers that you don’t already have. Find out where your followers are already hanging out, and hang out there too. Here’s a write up about the panel.

*I stepped into the Airing Dirty Laundry core conversation thinking it might have something to do with online ratings, but it was mostly about publicizing regretful sex acts on Sorry-mom.com. Most of the conversation was about the legality of posting men and photos on the site, the passive aggressiveness in posting, and whether or not there was a therapeutic component to this website. While I generally don’t frequent humor or entertainment sites, this site is very interesting from a research perspective. I’d love to track women’s behavior as a function of the menstrual cycle. Theoretically, women should be engaging in more “sorry-mom.com” acts during ovulation than during other parts of the menstrual cycle.

*Facebook: It’s complicated was a core conversation about posting relationship statuses on Facebook and the effects it has on our lives. One of the slides presented was that one out of every five divorces cited Facebook as a cause. It isn’t difficult to see that Facebook does make it easier to meet people or connect with past romantic partners, but I’m not sure that Facebook should be to blame. I found this to be a very interesting conversation, and I’m also interested in how social media can change mating strategies and relationship quality.

Overall, SXSW was a blast. I had a great time meeting cool people. A big thank you to @KitchenAidUSA for the blender I won at Cupcake Meet up. Thanks to @bakespace and @cupcakeblog for hosting the meet up. A big thank you to @suerostvold for the incredibly cute Bernese Mountain Dog greeting card. And a big thanks to @PN_ATX for having me at the Entrepreneur’s Lounge at Fogo De Chao. And big thanks to @GMTexas for the SXSW music wristband.

 

@GaryVee at SXSW 2010 w/ @koshadillz and @flexmathews

I knew little about Gary Vaynerchuck prior to SXSW 2010. I had heard that he did some wine videos and he had a book out. I did cite one of his articles in my Online Culture, Offline Behavior articles, but I hadn’t really dug deeply into this world of GaryVee. I attended his SXSW 2010 panel, and I was surprised. Gary didn’t talk about anything new. Gary didn’t talk about anything I didn’t already believe or implement. In the first 10 minutes of his talk, I could have sworn he was reading my mind (and website).

However, Gary delivered his message in such a way that it made an impact. He was energetic. He was passionate. And he used the F-bomb at least 40 times. Thom Singer counted 28, but he missed quite a few. This man gives a simple message such a punch that I swear the room was like a religious cult. Here’s some highlights and comments from the panel. Also, there was impromptu rapping at the end of the panel that was awesome. It is probably better than anything else you’ll see at SXSW music. :o P Note: These aren’t my videos. These were on youtube. The rappers were @flexmathews and @Koshadillz. Awesome job to both!

Video One

Video Two

1. “We don’t care enough about thank you’s.” No one these days give enough gratitude. Thank people. Thank everyone on who responds to you on Twitter. Thank them for coming. Thank them for listening to you. I’m an adamant believer in this point. Successful people don’t get that way on their own. I’ve never done anything on my own. Be it dog training, hypermiling, cooking, or writing, there was always and there still is a strong support system taking care of me. In every single activity I’ve ever attempted, I’ve had a mentor. That mentor was there to advise me when I was confused, to encourage me when I felt overwhelmed, and to be happy for me when I accomplished even the smallest achievements. To those people, thank you. Now YOU thank those people in YOUR life.

2. “Don’t sell your product when it comes out. Sell your product before it comes out.” This is self-explanatory. Create the buzz about your product. Get people interested in it before you have it out. Don’t wait until the last minute to start promoting it when it already on the shelves. By then, it is too late.

3. “Experience and interaction are paramount.” Business is built on relationships. There’s no denying it. Gary said, “Any interaction be is a handshake, hug, or butt-grab can turn into business.” Business is also personal (also preached by Jason Calacanis), and it is high time that we started building relationships and then business. We can use social media to build those relationships. There are many ways to not use Twitter effectively, and one such way it to use it as an information dissemination tool. Information is good, but it is not at all sufficient for creating relationships.

For example (if you are standing, please sit as you might hit the floor laughing), there is a certain company in Austin that doesn’t understand social media. To give you a little background, they offer consulting services that cost $250 for the initial meeting, and they think they were worth every penny. They thought social media was useless. Of course the CEO’s account was only following 16 people and had 17 followers after six months. Their marketing plan was to put fliers on cars in grocery store parking lots. They wanted to post fliers with those little pull off tabs in gyms, coffee shops, and on neighborhood mailboxes (which is illegal). This company also posted service ads on craigslists. I asked if they knew any teachers in the area (should be the biggest referrals of their business), and they knew none. The excuse was, “We’d have to buy them lunch and talk to them.” This marketing style was the antithesis of what Gary preached. He would have had a field day with this company. I’m sure the F-bomb count would have been pretty high.

4. “Do what makes you happy.” Follow your passions. If you do it well, and you create waves, there will be arrows in your back. Gary has the same message as Randy Pausch, except Randy doesn’t use the F-bomb. Both people have the same inspirational message and eerily the same words. I’ll probably be using both Randy and Gary in my lectures from now on.

I also got a hug from Gary afterwards. Totally awesome.

March 22, 2010

Driving the Chevy Volt at SXSW 2010

I was one lucky chick on Monday during SXSW.  Exceptionally lucky.  I got to take the new-under wraps-still in prototype mode Chevy Volt for a spin.  Here’s the report of the fun along with some photos and information.  Since the Volt is not yet released, I wasn’t privy to some information.  This is piecemealed from the bits of information that I was told or have read.  I apologize for any misinformation.

The Volt isn’t a hybrid vehicle or is it; this topic is highly debatable. We’ll stay away from the debate for now.   From what I know, it is essentially an electric vehicle with a gas generator that powers the battery when need be.  The Volt was designed run on the battery for the first 40 miles, and then use the gas generator to power the battery.  The explanation for the seemingly arbitrary 40 miles is because the average American commute is 20 miles.  40 miles using only electricity would mean a round trip commute to work without using a drop of gas.  And thusly, the Volt was designed with a 40 mile battery pack.  I wasn’t even given a ballpark estimate on the size of the gas tank, however, a full tank should get about 300 miles.

Cool Features:


The interior was very modern and the buttons were all “touch” buttons. You didn’t have to actually depress the button, rather it functioned like a touch screen. It had a very Ikea feel to it.  I was told that the transmission shifter would be redesigned, so it won’t look like what’s in the photos.

In addition to the regular horn, there’s a “friendly” horn to warn pedestrians who can’t hear your car because it is so quiet. I do mean quiet. That car didn’t even have a detectable hum (I was in a semi-noisy area). The car also had a rear backing camera with video built into the dash.
 

There are smart phone apps connected to OnStar so that you could program the volt to charge at a certain time or to start air conditioning in the car before you actually turn the car on. You can also use the smart phone app to honk the horn.  I did download the application on my iphone, but since I wasn’t connected to the car, I couldn’t play with the features.

Driving:

This car is so quiet that I’m afraid I wouldn’t remember if the car was on or off.  Driving the Volt is exactly like how Josh Bauer describes driving his Tessla.  There is no Vroom Vroom.  You just get on the gas and it goes.  While I didn’t get to see what the Volt really had, I did get to try the turbo button.  I wasn’t clear on the technology of it, but it does give your ride some “OMPH!”

The dash also has a monitor on it with a green ball in the center, if you accelerate too hard, the green ball moves out of the “happy zone” and turns yellow.  If you brake too hard, the green ball moves out of the “happy zone” and turns yellow.  While I’m familiar with many of the tools that have this type of user interface, I’m not sure about the technology behind this one.

Some issues to ponder:

The dash of the Volt didn’t have a Miles per gallon or MPKilowatt indicator on it that I could see.  I think I was told that there was one, but I didn’t get a chance to see it.  The battery gauge did have an indicator with how many miles were left, but I’m not sure how that is calculated.  Presumably, more rough driving should consume , but how does the battery know how rough you’ll be driving for the next few miles?

The Volt does have an OBD port for the scan gauge, but I’m not sure if the scanguage would be able to give miles per gallon readings as there is no gas engine.  I’m not sure if the scanguage would be able to measure CO2 output from a generator.  Additionally, I was told that the generator can turn on to power the battery randomly.  In that sense, gas used by the generator isn’t a function of the current electricity used.  The numbers may be inaccurate.  Again, since I wasn’t given all the details, I might have some misinformation on this.  I didn’t have my scanguage on me (I decided to not drive in Austin that day due to SXSW traffic), otherwise I would have tested it.
 

The plug.

Woozers.  It sure was bright out.

The front.

The back.

The very modern interior.

I also attended the Chevy Veggie drive in which a group of Austin Food Bloggers drove down to Pearl Farmer’s Market in San Antonio, ate lunch at Farm to Table, and then back to Austin in a variety of 2010 Vehicles.  A big thank you to Chevy, @gmtexas, and Yeti Coolers. Enjoy the pics below! Photos by John Knox.

Camaro and Donna

Pearl

Tasty Touring and I sample some candied nuts.

I like big paella pans.

Where we ate.

The crowds.

Big enough for a body.

Yummy Sammich at Texas Farm to Table.

March 19, 2010

SXSW 2010: “The Yelp Effect”

 

 

  Yelp is the new four-letter word.  Slapped with three class-action lawsuits, there is no doubt that Yelp brings out the fury in business owners.  I’m a Yelp user, and I have been since 2008.  Addie Broyles and I hosted a core conversation at SXSW 2010 entitled “The Yelp Effect: When Everyone’s a Restaurant Critic.”  The original focus was to discuss how user-generated reviews had changed the challenges that restaurants faced, but it quickly turned into a conversation about Yelp.  She_Eats from the Houston Press wrote up a very thorough review of the conversation, and the hashtag for the conversation was #theyelpeffect.  Here’s some of my personal thoughts that we may not have discussed at SXSW.  I am NOT employeed by Yelp, nor do I have any comments on their legal situation.  I’m a user that sees both the good and bad of Yelp.  A big thank you to the always thoughtful Addie Broyles for inviting me to share my thoughts.

1. Yelp is a social community, and reviews are the commonality among the users.  Many people see Yelp as a review site, which it is, but it also a community of people who happen to write reviews.  Yelp uses have also been called anonymous.  This may be true for the lurkers or the mostly inactive users on Yelp, but most users are NOT anonymous.  In the age of social media, most of the users are identifiable.  Users are pretty easily identified by the places they review, their photos, or other profile information.  Even users with the most generic profiles have been identified by the community.  This business was sniffed out by the community, and well, it didn’t go over so well.  To say that users are completely anonymous is a misunderstanding.  Additionally, Yelp Elite members are required to use their real names and real photos.

2. “I don’t trust Yelp.” This was a common phrase muttered at the core conversation, and I would totally agree if I didn’t know many of the Austin Yelp users in person.  While I do read reviews and view star ratings with a grain of salt, there are some users that I do trust.  I know their likes and dislikes.  I know that they have experience dining out.  And I know that there are not the type to give a restaurant a low rating without considerable thought.

3. “People on Yelp must be *insert derogatory adjective here.*” The demographics of Yelp users might actually surprise you.  Most users are over 21, well-educated, and typically interested in food beyond just stuffing their faces.  You might think that Yelp users must be lazy-do nothings because they “waste” their time on Yelp.  Here’s a video on cognitive surplus that might help you understand why people use online tools including Twitter, Blogging, and Facebook.  Spending time socializing with people (even if online) is not a waste of time in my opinion.  They are contributing to a community, and using that cognitive surplus.

4. “10% of the dining experience comes from the food.” There are so many factors that influence one’s mood, perception, and memory of a dining experience that ultimately feeds into review.  Stay with me for a moment as I dive into some academia.  People in happy moods tend to ignore negative information, and people in grumpy moods tend to think more logically about situations.  There’s an vast amount of research in the field of social psychology that investigates that impact of mood on perception and memory.  For example: Let’s say that I receive terrible service along with some fairly satisfying and tasty food.  I would hazard to guess that the service might put a damper on my experience and therefore I might rate the restaurant worse the food actually was.  On the other hand, there are some restaurants I frequent because no matter how terrible my day was, they always put me in a good mood.  Thank you @FSAustin and @MilanoAustin.

Perspective also influences memory. Research has shown that in relationships, people who are anxiously attached (about 10% of the population) tend to remember things much worse than they actually were. People who are securely attached (about 60-70% of the population) tend not to remember past events as bad as they were, or they may not remember them at all.  At the Business of Software Conference 2009, Dr. Jennifer Aaker gave a presentation about Disneyland.  Disneyland is actually a miserable place. The lines are long.  The food is expensive.  But our memories of Disney are fantastic.  Disney is so skilled at branding and framing, that we have great memories of the miserable time we had.  That’s just some food for thought.

5. Yelp can be likened to a focus group for your business. People come, pay, and give you feedback.  What’s more?  They are your actual consumers.  What better focus group can you get than to get actual consumers?  However, the catch with this focus group is that they put it online for the world to see.  My advice for a business would be to use their free business owner’s account to reply (politely).  That reply is also up for the world to see.  For further details on how to use Yelp, check out their business owners section or contact me.

You might say, “But that review is blatantly wrong!” or “I don’t agree!” This isn’t easy for people (myself included) to get negative feedback about ourselves.  Humans are designed to have high self-esteem.  We are also susceptible to group think (groups that don’t think or listen to feedback).  We tend to ignore things that are inconsistent with our own beliefs, and we tend to look for opinions that are consistent with our own opinions.  We are angry when someone disagrees with our self-perception.  There’s no way around this sticky issue except to accept it.  We all get negative reviews.

As a professor, when those course evaluations come in, I’m sure to get at least one negative evaluation.  I typically get 90-95% “We LOVE Ms. Chen!” evaluations, and 5-10% “I hated this class!” evaluations.  Sometimes those were correlated to the students’ grades, and sometimes not.  I had one student who knew she was going to fail my course, but she gave me a hug on the last day of class and wrote me a thank you note.  I also had one semester where I had such good evaluations that students protested to the department head when I told them I was no longer teaching, but that’s pretty out of the ordinary.  I did teach at that institution for the next three years.  There’s no pleasing every single customer as there is no pleasing every single student.  I take my feedback, improve, and I move on.

At this point, I’m fairly certain that this post will turn into somewhat of a novel.  I’ll end this post by saying that Yelp is not a perfect website.  There are things I would like to change and policies I’d like to implement if I could.  However, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Yelp is a useful website for both consumers and restaurant owners.  I’ve also found that once most businesses have learned how to navigate and use Yelp effectively, much of the anxiety surrounding Yelp disappears.

Why I South by

SXSW is a monstrosity of an event, and I love it for many reasons.  For people who love the crowded parties jammed packed full of awesome people, SXSWi is where to be.  People (yes, you) are the reason why I go to SXSW events.  You might have noticed that I’m a relationship oriented person.  My personal philosophy is that social media isn’t about the user, but everyone else.  Social media isn’t social unless you have relationships.  That’s why I go: to meet you.  To give you a handshake or hug, and to turn our online pinging into an offline relationship.

I’m very sad that I will be out of pocket for Friday and Saturday of SXSW.  Instead, I’ll be wearing a lilac dress, really tall high heels, and holding a bouquet of roses.  Anyone want to trade places?  :o )   If you do see me running around Austin, don’t be afraid to jump in and say “Hi!”  I’m always thrilled to meet new people.
Here’s a short list of events that I would have loved to attend or am attending:

Techmunch

NomX3 with Peter Cashmore

NomX3 Buzz Out Loud

Texas Social Media Awards Party

The Yelp Effect:  When Everyone’s a Critic

March 5, 2010

Happy Hours Galore during SXSW

There’s no lacking of Happy Hours in Austin, and to try to hit up all of them would require some teleportation talents.  Here’s two links to popular webpages that sum up most of Austin’s Happy Hour deals as well as a short list of my favorites that are fairly close to Downtown Austin.  So grab a fellow SXSWer and head on down for tasty bites and refreshing drinks.  

Austin Frugal Feaster
Austin Food Journal’s Calendar

My Downtown Faves
Paggi House200 Lee Barton Dr  Austin, TX 78704  (512) 473-3700 @paggihouse
I love Paggi House for the atmosphere, service, and the dog friendly patio.  Not only are the deals great, the presentation of the food here has been tops.  I haven’t been let down here yet!  Half off selected drinks and half off appetizers.

Trio at the Four Seasons – 98 San Jacinto Blvd  Austin, TX 78701 (512) 478-4500  @FSaustin
Trio understands happy hour.  With fabulous deals, cheery staff, great selection of wine, and to scrumptious lamb sliders, Trio has earned my happy hour loyalty.  Half off selected wines and appetizers.

McCormick’s and Schmick’s401 Congress Avenue  Austin, TX 78701   (512) 236-9600 @MccormickSchmicks
While it isn’t the very best Austin has to offer, McCormick’s and Schmick’s is a great place to go for cheap eats.  With a purchase of a drink (minimum $2, ice tea counts), order from a reduced price menu in the bar area.  From half pound burgers and fries for 2.95 to a large serving of hummus and pita for 1.95, you can’t go wrong.  McCormick’s and Schmick’s offers a regular happy hour and a reverse happy hour.  Get there early or practice your ninja skills in snagging a seat.  It can get crowded during happy hour. 

March 2, 2010

Where to Wet your Whistle in Austin, TX

 

  Welcome to Austin, SXSWers!  If you’re looking for places to wet you whistle, try some interesting cocktails, taste some regional brews, or sip on some wine, you’ve come to the right place.  The variables that I used to choose bars to include on this list includes variety in selection, atmosphere, and location.  These are places that I might frequent to enjoy a quality wine, beer, or cocktail.  Here’s a Twitter list of Beer, Wine, and Cocktails tweeters to follow.
 
View Beers, Wines, and Cocktails in a larger map
 
Downtown Area
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Gingerman Pub 301 Lavaca St Austin, TX 78701 (512) 473-8801 gingermanpub.com – Most taps you’ll find in Austin and Dog Friendly @austingingerman

 

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Opal Divine’s Freehouse 700 West 6th Street  Austin, TX 78701  (512) 477-3308 opaldivines.com/ – Dog friendly @opaldivines

 

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BD Riley’s 204 East 6th Street  Austin, TX 78701-3626   (512) 494-1335  bdrileys.com

 

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Fado’s Irish Pub 214 W 4th St  Austin, TX 78701  (512) 457-0172  www.fadoirishpub.com/austin  Dog Friendly @FadoAustin

 

 

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Max’s Wine Dive 207 San Jacinto Boulevard   Austin, TX 78701   (512) 904-0105   maxswinedive.com/ – Dog Friendly @after_midnight

 

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Trio at the Four Seasons 98 San Jacinto Boulevard   Austin, TX 78701   (512) 685-8300   fourseasons.com/austin/dining @FSaustin

 

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Mulberry   360 Nueces Street, Austin, TX 78701 (512) 320-0297  mulberryaustin.com  Dog Friendly @mulberryaustin

 

 

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Frank Restaurant   407 Colorado Street  Austin, TX 78701-2918   (512) 494-6894  hotdogscoldbeer.com @hotdogscoldbeer

 

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La Condesa 400-A W 2nd Street  Austin, TX 78701  (512) 499-0300  lacondesaaustin.com @lacondesaaustin

 

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Peche 208 W 4th St. Austin, Texas  512.495.9669 pecheaustin.com @peche_austin

 

 


 
Walkable from Downtown, but put on some comfy shoes. It’ll be a 20-30 minute walk.
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Zax’s Pints and Plates 312 Barton Springs Road  Austin, TX 78704-1213  (512) 481-0100  zaxaustin.com – Dog Friendly @zaxaustin

 

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Dog & Duck Pub 406 West 17th Street  Austin, TX 78701-1207  (512) 479-0598 dogandduckpub.com Dog Friendly @dogandduckpub

 

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Uncle Billy’s 1530 Barton Springs Road  Austin, TX 78704-1013  (512) 476-0100  unclebillysaustin.com Dog Friendly @unclebillys

 

 

Cocktails


 

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Paggi House  200 Lee Barton Dr  Austin, TX 78704  (512) 473-3700  paggihouse.com Dog Friendly @paggihouse

 

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The Good Knight  1300 East 6th Street  Austin, TX 78702-3371  (512) 628-1250  thegoodknight.net  @thegoodknight

 

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East Side Showroom 1100 East 6th Street  Austin, TX 78702-3211  (512) 467-4280  eastsideshowroom.com/html

 

 

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House Wine  408 Josephine Street  Austin, TX 78704 (512) 322-5210  housewineaustin.com Dog Friendly @housewine

 

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Uncorked Tasting Room 900 East 7th Street   Austin, TX 78702-3217  (512) 524-2809   uncorkedtastingroom.com Dog Friendly @uncorkedaustin

 

 

 
South Austin
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Whip In Convenience Store  1950 South I H 35 Austin, TX 78704-3628 (512) 442-5337 whipin.com @whipin

 

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Opal Divine’s Penn Field  3601 S Congress Ave  Austin, TX 78704-7250  (512) 707-0237 opaldivines.com Dog Friendly @opaldivines

 

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Black Sheep Lodge  2108 South Lamar Boulevard  Austin, TX 78704-4993  (512) 707-2744  blacksheeplodge.com Dog Friendly @blacksheeplodge

 

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The HighBall  1142 South Lamar Boulevard  Austin, TX 78704  (512) 383-8309  thehighball.com @highballaustin

 

 

 
Just a week bit North Austin
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Draught House Pub and Brewery 4112 Medical Parkway Austin, TX 78756-3715   (512) 452-6258  draughthouse.com  Dog Friendly @draughthouse

 

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Flying Saucer Draught Emporium 815 West 47th Street  Austin, TX 78751-2360  (512) 454-8200  beerknurd.com Dog Friendly @flyingsauceraus

 

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Alamo Drafthouse Village  2700 West Anderson Lane   Austin, TX 78757    (512) 452-7521  drafthouse.com  @drafthouse

 

 

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Vino Vino 4119 Guadalupe Street  Austin, TX 78751  (512) 465-9282  vinovinotx.com

 

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Wink  1014 N Lamar Blvd Ste E   Austin, TX 78703  (512) 482-8868 http://www.winkrestaurant.com/

 

 

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FINO Restaurant Patio & Bar 2905 San Gabriel Street, Austin, TX 78705  (512) 474-2908  finoaustin.com @fino_austin

 

 


 
Far out North, South, East, or West!
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Opal Divine’s Marina  12709 North Mopac  Austin, TX 78727  (512) 733-5353  opaldivines.com/marina/inde.. Dog Friendly @opaldivines

 

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North By Northwest Restaurant  10010 North Capital of Texas Highway   Austin, TX 78759-5837   (512) 231-8157   nxnwbrew.com Dog Friendly @nxnwbrew

 

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Red Shed Tavern 8504 Congress Avenue South  Austin, TX 78745  (512) 280-4899  redshedtavern.com

 

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Fion Wine Pub, Bee Cave 11715 Farm to Market 2244, Austin, TX 78738  (512) 263-7988  wildwoodwineandspirits.com Dog Friendly @fionwine

 

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The Grove Wine Bar and Kitchen  6317 Bee Caves Rd  Austin, TX 78746 (512) 327-8822 http://grovewinebar.com/ Dog Friendly @grovewinebar

Rise Austin Session: Hacking online Communities – Yelp for Business Owners

I usually post my social media articles on Misohungrynow.blogspot.com, but since there are so many businesses in the dog community, I’m posting it here as well. 

We’ve heard all about the website Yelp.  Some people love it, and some people hate it.  Some people feel that their policies are unfair to business owners and that business owners are powerless to reviews.  Don’t fret.  Don’t get angry.  Do get proactive, and do learn how to manage your business owner’s account to turn sour reviewers into happy customers.  On Tuesday, March 3rd, I’ll be giving a presentation on Rise Austin to show you how to navigate and understand the ins and outs of Yelp policies and how to understand the Yelp community.  I’ll also show you several small Austin businesses that used Yelp to drum up business (without paying $300 per month).   Click here to register

And the biggest question on your mind now: Since Yelp is being sued, will it go away?  My personal opinion is “No, Yelp is not going away.”  The amount of traffic on Yelp is staggering compared to other similar websites.   Yelp was offered $500 million dollars by Google.  Yelp has spurred many angry articles in the past about their policies.  None of those things have made any impact on Yelp as they are continuing to grow bigger and bigger.  Yelp isn’t going away, in fact business pages on Yelp are often very close to the top when searching for a business on Google.  If a business doesn’t have a website and adequate SEO skills, you can guarantee that their Yelp page will be the first link up on Google. 

What can you do?  You can ignore Yelp.  Some businesses thrive regardless what reviewers write about them.  On the other hand, you can use Yelp, a website with roughly 8.5 million visitors daily, as a marketing tool.  For Free.  If you can’t make it to the session, here’s a sneak peak into one of the topics I’ll be covering.  I’m also available at jennie@misohungrynow.com or 512-981-7627.

Rule 1: Do NOT ask for reviews.  This is in fine print on the Yelp for Business Owners page here.  It really should be in bold and in all caps.  Do not ask customers for reviews.  Do not ask friends to review.  Do not ask family to review.  Anytime a business starts to get many positive reviews from people who aren’t obviously part of the community, things look suspicious.  These newbies are often referred to as 0/1 as in zero friends and only one review.  There’s nothing against newbies as everyone starts somewhere, but it does look suspicious when as business gets nothing but newbie reviews.  There an entire thread on Yelp dedicated to outing suspsicous looking activity on reviews also called shill reviews.  This type of behavior only creates anger and distrust in the community, and even casual Yelp users recognize the behavior easily.  Urban, an American Grill took it to a new level by having employees write shill reviews even before the restaurant opened.  Yep, it is pretty easy to see that they have literally shot themselves in the foot.  I’ll be displaying the reviews written by the employees and of the Yelp community at the Rise presentation.  They have been taken down by Yelp Admin for the time being. 

You might ask, “But I’m referring users to Yelp when I ask people to write reviews for my business.”  Yelp gets about 8.5 million visits a day.  They probably don’t care if you referred 100 users a day to their website; they don’t really need word of mouth advertising.  However, the community does care that your reviews (even though your friends and customers have good intentions) look like shill reviews.  If your friends and family do review you, it should be disclosed within the review.  With social media being a huge part of our lives, you can’t hide your friends and family anymore.  It is better to be upfront rather than the being outed on the master debater business flogging thread

Also, here’s a few other interesting characteristics about the Yelp community.  They love dogs and support almost every single event or cause for dogs.  If you have a dog business, you are pretty much welcomed with open arms.  They love supporting local businesses.  Most are internet savvy and educated.  While there are always a few angry and unsocial-able people in every community, Yelp users are generally very friendly and outgoing.  Many business owners are also have individual accounts on Yelp, and they are also active in the community. 

To register for the full presentation on March 3rd, click here: http://www.riseaustin.org/hacking-online-cultures-offline-behaviors-how-turn-negative-feedback-cheerleaders   For more information: jennie@misohungrynow.com or 512-981-7627.

February 25, 2010

Online Cultures and Offline Behaviors – the entire article

Here’s the entire Online Culture, Offline Media article.  Again I would like to thank Chris Lamprecht for consulting on the history of online culture. A very big thank you to John Knox, Michelle Cheng, Armando Rayo, Jillian A. Lee-Wiggins, Ricardo Guerrero, and Chris Apollo Lynn for their valuable comments and insight on this article. Also, big thanks to Natanya Anderson, Oscar Davila, Tolly Moseley, and David Neff for their support.
 
Part 1 - Abstract and History of Online Culture

Abstract and Background
 

The integration of online lives and offline lives is a relatively new mainstream concept.  With a growing number of the population now joining social networking sites, online and offline culture have been mish-mashed haphazardly with rough guidelines on etiquette and behavior.  Because the social constructs of online lives are different than those offline, I felt that an article covering the social aspects of online behavior and offline behavior and the creation of online culture was much needed.  It seems that many people behave online as if they were anonymous even though they are not.  This article will discuss some of the psychological aspects of why people engage in socially unacceptable behavior and how the culture of that behavior is created.  I’ll lead into a section on the societal impacts of social media, some quantitative data on social media, and then onto a discussion of etiquette. 


A little background about me: I’m trained as a social psychologist, and my research area is behavioral neuroendocrinology in social relationships.  In short, I study how hormones might affect behavior, and how behavior might affect hormone release.  Relationships, largely romantic ones, are the context in which I study hormones and social behavior.  You might notice relationships as an overarching theme in this article.  This article is not meant to focus on how to use social media (though the topic is lightly discussed); rather this article aims to explain the constructs of behavior when combining offline and online culture.  In other words, the purpose is to discuss human behavior online and offline.

Brief History of online cultures and early online microcultures.
The Evolution of Culture is a long and drawn out process.  Theorists have debated exactly what culture is, how it arises, how it evolves, and how it is transmitted.  Not by Genes Alone, How Culture Transformed Human Evolution by Richerson and Boyd, is a great book for some insight on these topics since there won’t be debating here.  Culture can have several meanings, including (from Wikipedia) 1) High culture – sophisticated taste in fine arts or humanities. 2) an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning or 3) the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.  For purposes of this article, I’ll be focusing only on the third definition of the word culture.

Before Myspace, Facebook, or other social networking sites became popular, online culture was relatively undefined and used by a rather narrow group of people.  In other words, it was not mainstream or widely used.  One of the first methods of online real-time communication was “Internet Relay Chat”, or IRC, which people often accessed from university-provided UNIX accounts. UNIX accounts also provided a “finger” command, which showed you basic information about another user – an online “profile” of sorts.  It had information such as name, email address, and a “.plan” file which the user could fill with any information they chose.  The information was neither required nor validated.  These online personas could be entirely anonymous, and easily kept that way.  While people did meet each other in person after contact via IRC, meeting people in person after only online communication was much less common than it is today.  The taboo of meeting someone online was that it was “weird” or that people only met online because they had personality issues or something of that nature (completely untrue, might I add).  The demographic of people using IRC was a very narrow group of people who were interested in using computers as a communication device and had the skills to use the IRC program.  It is difficult to say how many people were communicating via the Internet in that fashion, and many have abandoned that mode in favor of more popular modes such as ICQ, AIM, or Googletalk.  Chat programs are now extremely popular for everything from providing online customer support to chatting between friends on social networking sites.

Another popular form of online communication is Internet forums.  Before the World Wide Web, the earliest forums on the Internet were Usenet newsgroups.  As the World Wide Web became more mainstream, Web-based message forums became a popular medium for online communities.  Internet message forums are typically focused on a certain hobby or recreational activity.  Through my own hobbies, I joined many of these online communities.  Most of the organizations I joined over the years were nationwide with members scattered across the country.  The mode of communication and conduct of business was mostly online via Yahoo groups (which can be public or private depending on the group’s needs) or listservs (email mailing lists) and moderated forums.  These groups were comprised of people who were highly invested into the particular hobby or activity, but who were not necessarily computer savvy.  While one could choose to be anonymous within these groups, it was mostly impossible to do so, as people would eventually meet you at shows, trials, clinics, or other events surrounding the hobby.  Joining these national clubs which existed mostly on the Internet was my first encounter with an online culture where members were expected to meet in person.

Whereas, the central focus of Internet forums is the content of the messages themselves; more modern social networking Web sites such as Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter have shifted much of the emphasis to the user’s profile and identity.  Most of these social networking sites discourage anonymous profiles.  Indeed, most people create profiles on these sites using their true identities.  Similarly, fraudulent Wikipedia personas are also frowned upon.  It is now common practice for employers to check up on a potential employee’s Facebook or Myspace profile.  Also, bachelors and bachelorettes should consider cleaning up their social media personas as it is now routine to check up on potential dates prior to agreeing to a date.  One social psychology study even shows that people are assessing personality from just a single photo.

In summary, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and message forums were one of the early modes of online communications with anonymous users.  There was no expectation that the users would ever meet in person.  Later, some groups and organizations used the Internet as their primary mode of communication, and meeting users in person was a by-product of attending club events.  Nowadays, the norm of modern social media tools and websites is that profiles disclose a person’s true identity, and meeting up with other users in person is no longer considered taboo or “weird”.   Websites like Meetup.com or Twtvite.com are examples of websites created to facilitate offline meetings of online communities.
Part 2 – Establishing Culture

Establishing Cultures and Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture
How culture is established is a multifaceted and deeply involved process.  Some factors in establishing culture include the speed at which cultural norms are set, whether there is a clear leader or dissenter, and how outside visitors view the culture.  There have not been empirical studies on establishing microcultures to my knowledge, but in many social psychology studies, microcultures are indeed established for the duration of the experiment.  One well-known study that investigated the creation of micro-culture is the Stanford Prison Study by Phillip Zimbardo.  While this study uncovered many unknown aspects and phenomena about the human psyche, it was also an extreme example of culture creation.  Twenty-four male students were recruited to participate in a study in which half the participants were to be guards and the other half were to be prisoners in a makeshift prison.  Using a variety of methods including the factors previously listed, the indoctrination into this simulated culture was so harsh and so disturbingly easy that the study was ended after only six days.  If you haven’t been exposed to the Stanford Prison Experiment, please do check out the website and think of the implications the study has in many real world situations.  It is incredibly easy for anyone to fall into the role of a prisoner or guard in their personal relationships, work places, or government.

For this next section, I do not have references or empirical studies to cite.  Many of the following situations are anecdotal, and I’m open to other interpretations.  Here are some examples of how I’ve set rules in a microculture, and a link to how to nurture an online community.

Example A. As a biological specimen collector for the Texas Attorney General’s Office (think CSI), I’ve had to work with many children, most of whom are pitching a fit and crying.  When the children get to me, I tell them directly in an assertive yet calm tone, “There’s no crying allowed here.”  I do this with lots of children between the ages of six months old to five years old, and the method has a 95% success rate.  Many parents stare in awe and ask, “How did you do that?”  Simple.  I established the rules for my laboratory, and the children followed.

Example B. One of my hobbies is dog training, handling, showing, and judging.  Along the way, I’m often approached for advice by dog owners who do not set specific rules and boundaries for their furry loved ones.  Dogs have very different social structures than humans.  Giving dogs free reign and no rules usually leads to dogs who misbehave in a variety of ways including: jumping on people, gnawing on people, ignoring people, running away, refusing to obey commands, growling at people, challenging or fighting with other dogs, getting food whenever the dog wants, or food aggression.  When people ask me for help with these issues, I immediately point them to the Nothing in Life is Free program and the Umbilical Training Method.  These programs and other variations are quick and easy methods to teach dogs rules and reinforce desirable or undesirable behaviors.  Simply, the dog must offer desirable behaviors prior to receiving food or attention.  It is the owners who should demand and get the attention, and not the other way around.  Many dog owners assume that dogs should behave in the fashion that we desire, but they are dogs and do things that dogs enjoy.

Example C. Every semester that I teach a new class, I establish a microculture in my classroom.  I learned the hard way that if rules are not explicitly set at the very beginning of class, the entire semester could be a disaster.  My first solo teaching experience: I was given two weeks notice that I was teaching an Introductory Psychology course to 250 students.  Needless to say, I was not prepared nor did I expect college freshmen to behave so immaturely.  Since I am of small stature, female, and appeared young, it contributed to the problem.  It is commonly known that these are the three factors that are most correlated to classroom management issues.  Students would stroll in late, they would talk on their cell phones during class, and they would protest assignments and exams.  I did recognize the problem early on, consulted with my teaching mentors, Dr. Ludy Benjamin and Dr. Stephen Balfour, and got my class whipped into shape by mid-semester.  Other graduate students who came to my class described my students as polite, quiet, well-behaved, and almost like a military troop.  A colleague also taught the same course, but she did not instill any rules.  The misbehaviors in her class grew over the semester.  Asking the department head to sit in on her class only exacerbated the problem.  One student yelled obscenities at her during lecture, and neither the department head nor the lecturer addressed the issue.  In the mind of the students, if the department head thought it was okay to be obnoxious and rude, then it certainly was acceptable classroom behavior.  In conclusion, I now spend the entire class period the first day of class in every single class establishing the cultural norms of my microculture, and then we spend a day watching The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  If you haven’t watched the lecture (available on googlevideos or youtube), stop reading this article and watch it now. Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture is one of the most motivating and useful lectures that is a must watch for both educators and students alike.  Randy Pausch’s lecture is a guide to how to live your life, how to nurture your relationships, and how to achieve your dreams.  The purpose of watching the video is to establish expectations and classroom culture.  Randy Pausch is not only a great lecturer, he’s also models classroom behavior the way I would like.

Part 3 – Social Psychology and Online Communities

There are several social psychology concepts that can shed light on human behavior online as well as raise additional questions.  Michelle Greer wrote this insightful article that is related to the first concept I’ll discuss.  On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog.  You are deindividualized until you choose to disclose your identity, which is fairly common practice.  However, even when identities are disclosed, people still behave in ways that they wouldn’t in person because they feel like nobody knows their identity.  When people are deindividualized with masks or within a mob, they do things that they normally wouldn’t.  The example I use in teaching is the Ku Klux Klan.  Do you think that KKK members would engage in the behaviors (many illegal and horrific) that they do without wearing those masks?  I think not.  With the rapid growth of social media, remaining anonymous on the internet is incredibly difficult.  Once information is on the Internet, it’s always on the Internet.  Users can be found, for better or worse.  So, unless you intend to live in hiding for the rest of your life, be mindful with what you post online.  You are an identifiable individual.

Many social networks employ some method of dialogue.  Facebook has walls and comments.  Twitter has @replies so you can follow conversations.  Many blogs allow comments on postings.  Fred Wilson’s Blog has so many regular readers that they have their own microculture.  Even Yelp has talk threads.  With these methods of communication, we can see a series of social psychology concepts in play.  Humans are subject to confirmation bias, which is the tendency to only seek information that conforms to our beliefs.  We tend to disregard information that isn’t consistent with our own attitudes, and we have a very difficult time being objective.  This is a concept we should keep in mind when engaging in social media and doing research or polling people on the Internet.  It leads us to search for articles we want to find, and leads us to discount information we just don’t want to see.

Following that same vein, there is no hard data on what is exactly going on in social media.  There is a plethora of quantitative data on how many views a page or post receives and from where the traffic originated, but there is no data on how content is perceived.  Little to no accurate or complete qualitative data exists.  Comments on wall posts or blog posts are qualitative, but it represents a very small portion of the readers.  There is no data on how the other users who chose not to comment actually feel about the post.  So while there is data on the number of viewers and when they viewed, there is little indication of their reaction to online content.  This is where cultures can sour a bit.  Austin Yelp Talk threads used to be filled with light-hearted banter and fun topics.  Over time, a few users became snarky, rude, condescending.  Some believed that if you ignored those users (often called trolls), they would go away.  That is a very common technique in dog training using operant conditioning , i.e. not rewarding unwanted behaviors.  However, the other issue is that if those users repeatedly violated the “be cool” guidelines in the terms of service without any one calling them out, then saying nothing is in some sense establishing that behavior as the norm.  While users can flag rude and snarky posts for removal, most Austin Yelp users simply quit using the talk threads because the culture had changed.

One might think that people would be unlikely to conform to behavior just because they observed it on the Internet or in person.  The popular opinion is that humans are free from influence when it comes to making their own decisions or controlling their own behaviors.  Nothing could be further than the truth.  Many social psychology studies show that when the situation is ambiguous, people look to others and model other people’s behaviors.  Even in situations where a norm is already established, others behaving in another fashion can entice people to change their own behaviors (watch the video, it’s hilarious).  This may explain how a faux pas might become the norm for behavior.

One issue that doesn’t have a name yet and has not been empirically studied is users’ feelings after posting something on the Internet.  It appears that there is a certain sense of self-worth or accomplishment  because one’s own opinion is posted on the Internet.  The user feels that because he or she has a right to post things online, his or her opinion is valued, trusted, or even validated.  While I highly value my Freedom of Speech, I do not think that just because certain information can be posted that it should be posted or that it is correct.  My personal rule of thumb is: If I won’t say it to someone’s face, I shouldn’t post it online.

Part 4 – The Importance of Social Media and Social Media as Advertising

The Importance of Social Media in our society
The importance of social media is quickly growing; some cities have developed online community newspapers. Social media and online cultures do matter.  Online communication is just one medium in which to transmit information, exchange ideas, and meet people.  Here are some stories of how social media has affected something offline, both positively and negatively.

Case 1. Rock Art Brewery was sent a cease and desist by Monster (the billion-dollar energy drink company), over a Rock Art beer called Vermonster.  To make an incredibly long story short, fans of Rock Art Brewery united on blogs and Twitter urging people to boycott Monster products.  Hashtags ranging from #boycottmonster to #savethevermonster flooded my Twitter feed.  Even non-beer drinkers saw the inequity of the situation and pledged their support for Rock Art Brewery.  Just check out all the blog posts listed here. Those blog posts went up in just a matter of days after the word had gotten out.  Eventually, Monster backed off, and Rock Art Brewery was able to continue selling their Vermonster free of harassment.

Case 2. As I was watching CNN at the gym, Josh Levs was doing a segment about using social media to find missing children.  He showed this Facebook fan page called Missing Children, Let’s find Them.  Imagine an entire city being alerted to a missing child via radio, television, news articles, Facebook, and Twitter.  Finding missing kids would be so much faster and more efficient.  If you know anything about missing children, the length of time they’ve been missing is highly correlated to the likelihood that the child is no longer alive.  Time is critical in these cases.  This is only one way that social media can be beneficial to society.

Case 3. Postsecret.com is a very popular blog filled with secrets submitted on a post card.  While the submitters of the post cards are anonymous, the idea that someone can disclose deep and disturbing secrets has spawn into what amounts to an emotional support group.  Click on any of the comments and you’ll see evidence of an online community within Postsecret.com. One reader’s email on how she decided to not commit suicide was posted for a very long time on PostSecret.com.  Sometimes, we all just need someone to listen to us. 
Case 4. This story isn’t about triumph or useful ways that social media can be used; this story is one of how social media can have powerful effects.  You might remember in late 2007, a young girl committed suicide after receiving messages from a fictitious myspace friend.  The lesson that we should all learn from this story is that social media, though online, is powerful.  It can create strong friendships, and it can also hurt others to the point of committing suicide.  Please use social media carefully.  Stop Cyberbullying.

Social Media as a means of advertising

Now that we have established that social media is a mainstream mode of communication, let’s look at what it means to advertise via social media.  Research (non-academic to my knowledge) has shown that people are more likely to believe word of mouth marketing (the recommendation of their friends on products) rather than traditional advertising.  The issue with this type of advertising is that – contrary to popular belief – some of the mouths doing the advertising are being paid by the companies for said advertising.  I personally feel that this behavior is misleading because the information is no longer coming from an unbiased source.  If you haven’t already seen it, the Federal Trade Commission has just released guidelines on blogging.  It is common for bloggers to receive complimentary items, but there are some bloggers that are also paid for posts, tweets, or other forms of advertising.  In the food blogging world, there are marketing blogs that are set up to appear as if they were food blogs.  I feel that everything should be disclosed, allowing the consumer to decide who they want to believe.  Here are some links for reading. 

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/an_open_letter_to_the_ftc_139297.asp

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/08/taking_liberties/entry5372890.shtml

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1331-Quick-Query-Attorney-Explains-New-FTC-Blogging-Guidelines

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/ftc-values-sponsored-conversations-at-11000-apiece/

http://www.blogwithintegrity.com/

http://www.blogher.com/new-ftc-guidelines-and-what-they-mean-you

Part 5 – Social Media’s Growing Numbers

And because I love numbers, here are some links to interesting articles with numbers.  The theme for these articles is that social media is a big deal, and the numbers of users is growing. 

http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009/ – This site contains a plethora of data on bloggers and the state of the blogosphere.

http://econsultancy.com/blog/5324-20+-mind-blowing-social-media-statistics-revisited – Mind-blowing social media stats

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/is-blog-reading-mainstream.html – Fred Wilson writes that blogs are becoming main stream.  Out with the old media, in with the new. 

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-blog-where-everybody-knows-your-name.html – Fred Wilson has a microculture on his blog. Nice.

http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-cohort-analysis.html – I love numbers. I love graphs.  Here’s some data on co-hort analysis.   

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/twitter-data-analysis-an-investors-perspective/ – More Twitter data

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/17/is-twitter-the-cnn-of-the-new-media-generation/ – Information travels fast via Twitter.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/11/can-the-statusphere-save-journalism/ – Old media evolving to stay alive.

http://thepowerofinfluence.typepad.com/the_power_of_influence/2009/02/11-of-adult-americans-twitter.html – Who’s on twitter?

http://www.oldmedianewtricks.com/ – In old media?  Here’s how to evolve.

http://ow.ly/B13I – Three new social media articles worth a read
Part 6 – How to Nurture Relationships Online and Offline

From the Whuffie Bank to RoadTwip, there’s no shortage of advice on how to build social networks.  Here’s a link to Gary Vaynerchuk’s five commandments of social networking with many more following below.  However, articles about how to translate those social networks into in personal relationships aren’t common.  Additionally, what you see online is not necessarily what you’ll see in person.  There a many people who have high Whuffie balances, but they don’t have many positive connections offline.  And there are many people who are great influencers person, but rarely use social media or have low Whuffie balances.  Here’s one link to a guide on how to attend a tweet-up, how to say thank you on the internet, and here are a few of my tips.

1. If you are the organizer of a big event, show up, and deliver.  There’s nothing worse than going to a meet up, and not having a meet up. It wastes the time of many people.

2. Give more than you can take, online and in person.  Reach out in some other way besides the Internet.  Perhaps someone on Twitter recommends you to a client which brings you very profitable business.  It would not be out of the ordinary to send that person a thank you plant or a dozen cookies, provided you know that person’s work address.  You might even invite that person to lunch.  When I was the Ways and Means chair for one of my national clubs, I learned that a person who recently placed an order had a death in the family.  I did not know that person outside of filling the order, but I sent the family a sympathy card in the regular postal mail.  Few things in life are worse than losing a loved one, and I’m a big proponent of oxytocin and social support.  From that, we began to communicate more and more often.  Less than a year later, the family, who lived on the other side of the country (Austin, TX to Washington, DC) met me in person for the first time while I was in DC, and presented me with a very valuable and large gift that both my dog and I love.  This example shows that a stamp and a card could turn into a wonderful long distance relationship.

3. Follow up with people online and in person.  Social networking isn’t about making many “single serving friends.”  I try to always “reply” to every single person who “replies” to me on Twitter in a positive fashion, no matter what they say.  It fosters conversation because my followers learn that I consistently respond positively.  If you want to show people that you’re likable, what better way than to have them associate you with positive feedback?

4. One of my favorite business Twitter accounts is @FSAustin – for the Four Seasons and Trio in Austin, TX.  The hotel and restaurant’s phenomenal service shines through on their Twitter account as well.  @FSAustin‘s tweets are useful, full of local tips, upbeat and happy, and very timely.  They don’t tweet too often, yet they are always there when you “at reply” or “mention” @FSAustin or direct message them.  Not only do they reply to people frequently online, they are the very same way offline.  Their Twitter managers always make it a point to greet me if they see me in the hotel or even out and about town.  All staff members, including the general manager, wait staff, masseuses, and even the valet drivers, are always smiling, and very receptive of any concerns, online and in person.  They are a great example of a business that builds strong relationships with their customers online and in person.

Twitter and Blogging Etiquette

There is no shortage of posts and articles outlining Facebook, Twitter and blogging etiquette.  However, I haven’t found any articles that are dedicated to outlining behaviors online and offline.  Here are some useful links on twitter and blogging etiquette.  My personal opinion in the next part will not outline the issues already discussed in the following links.

http://www.scarymommy.com/twitter-etiquette/

http://www.macworld.com/article/141983/2009/08/twitteretiquette.html

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_thoughtful_user_guide/writing_my_twitter_etiquette_article_14_ways_to_use_twitter_politely.php

http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/
http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/food-blog-etiquette.html


http://foodblogalliance.com/etiquette/


http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/blog-etiquette-and-eaitng-in-nyc.html


http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROYzrm5SBM


http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/06/gary-vs-social-media-rules/


http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/twitter-cluelessness-guy-kawasaki
Part 7 – Online Manners

Here are some of my personal tips concerning online and offline behavior.
1. Accepting complimentary food and drinks from a restaurant is fairly common for a variety of reasons including birthdays, replacing another dish, extra long wait times, etc.  However, I personally feel that one should never ask for complimentary food simply because he or she blogs or tweets.  Stating “I am a blogger, writer, reviewer, and therefore I want free food and drink” is in poor form.  Tweeting that you should receive free food, drinks, and other goods is just wrong in my opinion.  This is how some restaurant owners might feel about asking for free food and drinks.  Anyone can write a blog on the Internet.  Having a blog doesn’t make a person special or deserving of complimentary treatment.  If you are respected and known for your writing and your opinions, the staff will recognize you and compensate you as they please.  Keep in mind that individuals who are well-known for their influence in media all started out somewhere.  Most of them pay for their meals despite what the public might think. 


2. When posting reviews or information online, be thoughtful and careful, whether the information is positive or negative.  Remember, telling your friends that you had a bad experience is not the same as posting it online.  Everyone can read it online, which can hurt feelings or make business owners very angry.  My personal rule of thumb is that I will let the restaurant know that I am having a poor experience while I’m there.  If the restaurant tries to fix the problem, I’m happy with that.  If the restaurant doesn’t try to fix the situation, I feel that it is fair for me to post my experience if I decide to post at all.  Before I post a negative review, I have several people proof read it to make sure that the post is fair and the restaurant had adequate opportunities to fix the issues.  If the experience was positive, I will focus on the positive points and mention the minor issues if there were any.  If I thought the food was mediocre, I don’t post that it was fabulous.  Accurately conveying my experiences is important to me.  Writing that every single restaurant was just a fantastic five star experience might cause others to start questioning my integrity, sense of smell, and taste buds.


3. Promoting events should be given careful thought.  If the event clearly requires an RSVP or tickets, it is to everyone’s advantage to make that blatantly clear.  No one wants to show up to an event to discover that tickets cost a small fortune or that it is not open to non-members.  If you would like to attend an event out of your price range, you might volunteer at the event, which frequently comes with perks.  Check out my navigating food festivals post.


On the other hand, businesses often host free events to celebrate with their customers and to bring in new customers.  I’m not in the market to buy a new or expensive vehicle.  If a local Porsche dealership is throwing a party to celebrate a new model, I’m probably not going to attend.  The effort and funds that the Porsche dealership is investing into the party isn’t targeted for non-customers.  Be mindful of businesses before advertising all events as free and open to the public.  The party may be free for attendees, but  the business is the one footing the bill.  I ask business owners first if it is okay to promote their event on my blog or twitter.  Also, keep in mind that free food and drinks brings out everyone in town.  Free food and drink events will be crowded and busy.  Enjoying a free party is a privilege, not a right.  Don’t get angry if you happen to miss the free food and drink.  If you are vending at an event, it is to everyone’s benefit to ask how the event will be advertised, how many people the organizers are expecting, and how tickets for the event will be distributed. Dos Equis learned this the hard way.


4. Burning bridges when you might need them the most.  Online communities are just as real as offline communities.  If you own an Italian restaurant, it would be wise to be friends with other Italian restaurant owners.  I’m not saying that you should be best buds and spend every waking moment together.  But you ought not write unflattering things about them online.  I once tweeted a positive comment about a yogurt shop I frequented.  30 seconds later, a gelato shop tweeted how yogurt in general was a terrible product.  I was put off by the gelato shop’s behavior, and I don’t intend on patronizing a business with such an attitude. 


5. If you have socially unacceptable attitudes, you shouldn’t broadcast them.  It’s 2009, but there are still racists, sexists, and mean people in this world.  Those attitudes are socially unacceptable, and if you choose to post them publicly, you might not have many friends.  Two local DJs made that mistake, and there has been quite the buzz about it.  I’m not going to debate whether what was said was actually intended to be a racial comment.  Regardless, some listeners were offended.  I feel that I can pull a Delfina’s pizza stunt in which the employees wore their negative reviews on a shirt, and I’m going to link to a racially insensitive post written about myself.  Since it is about me, I won’t be hurting anyone else’s feelings by using it.  I’d also like to mention that I am Asian, and the writer’s husband also proceeded to make sexual arm gestures and hip gyrating moves during the interaction.  The two local DJs and the author of the blog post have committed a serious social blunder. 


6. Somethings are better kept private.  Posting personal information online might violate someone’s trust in you, exploit someone’s privacy, make others feel uncomfortable, tip off authorities and lead to your arrest (it’s funny, just read it), or create problems in the work place.  In browsing through the previous blog when adding it to this article as an example, I found the content to be quite inappropriate in social media.  There are support groups for depression and other mental illnesses.  Posting information about personal marriage problems, drug dependency, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder along with identifying photos and information is not a good idea.  This would make online and offline interactions with either person in this couple awkward to say the least.  I feel awkward reading it.  Social media outlets should not be used as a support group.  It is better to find a support group that also uses social media for healing.  There are also websites like FmyLife and PostSecret to vent those private feelings.

7. It is perfectly normal and accepted to disagree with others online.  However, disagreements can be handled with tact.  Unless you do want some major attention, fighting online probably isn’t a good idea.  Fighting in offline doesn’t accomplish much either. 


Also, please read this post written by another Austinite (not related to my incident either).  Tweeps, don’t be mean.  Twitter users are real people with real feelings.  Now that online interactions intersect with real lives, think twice before hitting send.  



Part 8 – References and Acknowledgments



I would like to thank Chris Lamprecht for consulting on the history of online culture. A very big thank you to John Knox, Michelle Cheng, Armando Rayo, Jillian A. Lee-Wiggins, Ricardo Guerrero, and Chris Apollo Lynn for their valuable comments and insight on this article. Also, big thanks to Natanya Anderson, Oscar Davila, Tolly Moseley, and David Neff for their support.

How to live your life, Lessons from Randy Pausch – http://www.thelastlecture.com/



How to build and online community – http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/17758.imc

Newsgroups – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup

Twitter and Human Evolution – http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2009/04/30/twitter-and-human-evolution/

How to say Thank You on the internet: http://blog.steffanantonas.com/how-to-say-thank-you-on-the-social-web.htm

Less online, more offline – http://www.bulldogsolutions.com/marketing-resources/blog/power-down-and-meet-using-online-social-communities-create-real-life-intera
What not to blog – http://thesimplypeachy.com/

Keeping your bodily functions off the Internet – http://twitter.com/BeerWhore/status/4407342941

The Whuffie Bank – http://www.thewhuffiebank.org/

First impressions on the Internet – http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/11/10/making-a-digital-first-impression-why-you-can-t-fake-your-facebook-profile.aspx

Tweeters, mean people suck -http://www.phenixpublicity.com/blog/2009/10/26/oh-goodness-tweeps-i-have-a-bone-to-pick.html

Wearing criticisms with pride 1 - http://www.7×7.com/blogs/bits-bites/yelp-tee-almost-more-brilliant-pizzeria-delfinas-pizza

Wearing criticisms with pride 2 -http://consumerist.com/5164533/pizzeria-employees-wear-t+shirts-with-quotes-from-nasty-yelp-reviews

Destroying business relationships – http://ibleedpnk.blogspot.com/2009/10/wtf.html


What’s a single serving friend? – http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=single-serving+friend

RoadTwip – http://roadtwip.us/


Twitter manners 1 to 11 -http://www.scarymommy.com/twitter-etiquette/

http://www.macworld.com/article/141983/2009/08/twitteretiquette.html

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_thoughtful_user_guide/writing_my_twitter_etiquette_article_14_ways_to_use_twitter_politely.php

http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/

http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/food-blog-etiquette.html


http://foodblogalliance.com/etiquette/


http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/blog-etiquette-and-eaitng-in-nyc.html


http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROYzrm5SBM


http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/06/gary-vs-social-media-rules/


http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/twitter-cluelessness-guy-kawasaki

Don’t post negative things about work on Facebook – http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse/

The real you on Facebook – http://www.utexas.edu/news/2009/12/01/facebook_psychology/?AddInterest=2221

ThatKevinSmith Vs. SouthwestAir – http://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith/status/9166100231

Don’t demand free stuff – http://twitter.com/wnorris3/status/442298971

Background checking your dates – http://sconyers.com/2009/03/first-dates/

Delete your drunken photos before your interview – http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/if-youre-applying-job-censor-your-facebook-page

Gary V’s social media rules, wine not included – http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/06/gary-vs-social-media-rules/

Post Secret – http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

My dog is totally awesome – http://romanreign.com/index.27.jpg

Stop Cyberbullying – http://kut.org/items/show/19021

Angry business owners get violent – http://gawker.com/5396122/yelp-fights-make-leap-to-real+world-violence-says-reviewer

Stanford Prison Study – http://www.prisonexp.org/

Social Psychology – Deindividuation – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Identity_model_of_Deindividuation_Effects_%28SIDE%29

The Ku Klux Klan – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

Deindividuation and the KKK – http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/videos/view/20511/

On the Internet, no one knows that you’re a dog – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog

Social Psychology – Confirmation Bias – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Ignoring problem behaviors – http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Behavioral2.html

Operant Conditioning – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning

Classical Condtioning – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning

Social Norms – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_%28sociology%29

Social Psychology – Conformity – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformity

Conformity Video (funny) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1euWT3NZjY

Bazaarvoice white papers – http://www.bazaarvoice.com/resources/research

This site contains a plethora of data on bloggers and the state of the blogosphere- http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009/

Blogs are becoming main stream – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/is-blog-reading-mainstream.html

Fred Wilson has a microculture on his blog  – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-blog-where-everybody-knows-your-name.html

I love numbers. I love graphs.  Here’s some data on co-hort analysis – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-cohort-analysis.html

More Twitter data – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/twitter-data-analysis-an-investors-perspective/

Information travels fast via Twitter – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/17/is-twitter-the-cnn-of-the-new-media-generation/

Old media evolving to stay alive -  http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/11/can-the-statusphere-save-journalism/

Who’s on twitter? – http://thepowerofinfluence.typepad.com/the_power_of_influence/2009/02/11-of-adult-americans-twitter.html

Quantitative and Qualitative Data – http://regentsprep.org/REgents/math/ALGEBRA/AD1/qualquant.htm

Three new social media articles worth a read – http://ow.ly/B13I

Freedom of Speech on the internet – http://w2.eff.org/br/

In old media?  Here’s how to evolve – http://www.oldmedianewtricks.com/

Word of Mouth Marketing – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_mouth

Internet Trolls – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29

10 simple rules for Tweeting up – http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/digitalsavant/entries/2009/10/07/10_simple_rules.html?cxntfid=blogs_digital_savant

Classroom Teaching Tips – http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm

Social media, playing economics games, and accountability – http://www.michellesblog.net/social-media-and-society/game-theory-and-the-use-of-social-media

FTC and Blogging Ethics Articles 1-6 :

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/an_open_letter_to_the_ftc_139297.asp

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/08/taking_liberties/entry5372890.shtml

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1331-Quick-Query-Attorney-Explains-New-FTC-Blogging-Guidelines

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/ftc-values-sponsored-conversations-at-11000-apiece/

http://www.blogwithintegrity.com/

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/my-thoughts-on-the-ftc-disclosure-rules-and-bloggers/

http://www.blogher.com/new-ftc-guidelines-and-what-they-mean-you

On building successful long-term relationships – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/06/building-successful-long-term-relationships.html

Follow this business twitter account – http://twitter.com/fsaustin

Oxytocin, it’s good for you (the hormone, not the drug) – http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/PIIS0006322303004657/abstract

Watch what you say on the radio – http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/entertainment/101409_jason_and_deb_from_101x_suspended
You’re a tenured professor on wiki? – http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001162.html

Dos Equis blunder of a party – http://do512.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/an-apology-from-dos-xx-the-most-interesting-academy/


This story is so Farkable http://thenextweb.com/2009/10/14/fugitive-caught-bragging-facebook-updates/


Find missing kids – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Missing-Children-Lets-Find-Them/99812501383


Craft Brew wins this round – http://monsterboycott.wordpress.com/http://www.rockartbrewery.com/VERMONSTER.html

.plan – http://workbench.cadenhead.org/news/3128/first-blog-plan-file
Mind-blowing social media stats – http://econsultancy.com/blog/5324-20+-mind-blowing-social-media-statistics-revisited

Austin’s online community newspaper – http://www.austinpost.org/

Listservs – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LISTSERV

FmyLife – http://www.fmylife.com/

PostSecret – http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Twtvite.com – http://twtvite.com/

Meetup.com – http://www.meetup.com/
 

Interesting additional reading articles:

Explaining cognitive surplus or why are we on the Internet – http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/010218.html

Do you Foursquare? – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/technology/internet/19foursquare.html?_r=2

Retweet me – http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_twitter

I can’t disclose everything everywhere: http://blog.louisgray.com/2009/11/disclose-this-i-cant-disclose.html

Social Identities and forums: A Frame model: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/11/more-that-sociologist-erving-g.html

Canidate 101: Do’s and Don’ts: http://meanrachel.blogspot.com/2009/12/candidate-101-dos-and-do-nots-of.html

Social Recruiting – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/11/social-recruiting.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AVc+%28A+VC%29

Don’t fight on Twitter and murder afterwards – http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/12/man-shot-dead-twitter-murder/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_finds_social_media_is_actually_social.php

http://mashable.com/2009/03/08/social-media-blunders/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/22/AR2009102204528.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-smallbiz27-2009oct27,0,7371262.story

http://paulgraham.com/nthings.html

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13297824/Technorati-SOTB-2009


 

http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2007/12/theres-no-such-thing-as-social-network.html

http://www.newfangled.com/a_web_designers_response_to_facebook

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114187478

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/twitter-has-a-business-job-agency/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/02/pr-people-getting-pushier-with-bloggers-since-the-recession/?awesm=b5m.cc_deO&utm_campaign=b5media&utm_medium=b5m.cc-twitter&utm_source=hootsuite.com&utm_content=backtype-tweetcount



 

February 24, 2010

Online Cultures and Offline Behaviors 7 & 8 – Online Manners and References

Part 7 – Online Manners

Here are some of my personal tips concerning online and offline behavior.

1. Accepting complimentary food and drinks from a restaurant is fairly common for a variety of reasons including birthdays, replacing another dish, extra long wait times, etc.  However, I personally feel that one should never ask for complimentary food simply because he or she blogs or tweets.  Stating “I am a blogger, writer, reviewer, and therefore I want free food and drink” is in poor form.  Tweeting that you should receive free food, drinks, and other goods is just wrong in my opinion.  This is how some restaurant owners might feel about asking for free food and drinks.  Anyone can write a blog on the Internet.  Having a blog doesn’t make a person special or deserving of complimentary treatment.  If you are respected and known for your writing and your opinions, the staff will recognize you and compensate you as they please.  Keep in mind that individuals who are well-known for their influence in media all started out somewhere.  Most of them pay for their meals despite what the public might think. 


2. When posting reviews or information online, be thoughtful and careful, whether the information is positive or negative.  Remember, telling your friends that you had a bad experience is not the same as posting it online.  Everyone can read it online, which can hurt feelings or make business owners very angry.  My personal rule of thumb is that I will let the restaurant know that I am having a poor experience while I’m there.  If the restaurant tries to fix the problem, I’m happy with that.  If the restaurant doesn’t try to fix the situation, I feel that it is fair for me to post my experience if I decide to post at all.  Before I post a negative review, I have several people proof read it to make sure that the post is fair and the restaurant had adequate opportunities to fix the issues.  If the experience was positive, I will focus on the positive points and mention the minor issues if there were any.  If I thought the food was mediocre, I don’t post that it was fabulous.  Accurately conveying my experiences is important to me.  Writing that every single restaurant was just a fantastic five star experience might cause others to start questioning my integrity, sense of smell, and taste buds.


3. Promoting events should be given careful thought.  If the event clearly requires an RSVP or tickets, it is to everyone’s advantage to make that blatantly clear.  No one wants to show up to an event to discover that tickets cost a small fortune or that it is not open to non-members.  If you would like to attend an event out of your price range, you might volunteer at the event, which frequently comes with perks.  Check out my navigating food festivals post.


On the other hand, businesses often host free events to celebrate with their customers and to bring in new customers.  I’m not in the market to buy a new or expensive vehicle.  If a local Porsche dealership is throwing a party to celebrate a new model, I’m probably not going to attend.  The effort and funds that the Porsche dealership is investing into the party isn’t targeted for non-customers.  Be mindful of businesses before advertising all events as free and open to the public.  The party may be free for attendees, but  the business is the one footing the bill.  I ask business owners first if it is okay to promote their event on my blog or twitter.  Also, keep in mind that free food and drinks brings out everyone in town.  Free food and drink events will be crowded and busy.  Enjoying a free party is a privilege, not a right.  Don’t get angry if you happen to miss the free food and drink.  If you are vending at an event, it is to everyone’s benefit to ask how the event will be advertised, how many people the organizers are expecting, and how tickets for the event will be distributed. Dos Equis learned this the hard way.


4. Burning bridges when you might need them the most.  Online communities are just as real as offline communities.  If you own an Italian restaurant, it would be wise to be friends with other Italian restaurant owners.  I’m not saying that you should be best buds and spend every waking moment together.  But you ought not write unflattering things about them online.  I once tweeted a positive comment about a yogurt shop I frequented.  30 seconds later, a gelato shop tweeted how yogurt in general was a terrible product.  I was put off by the gelato shop’s behavior, and I don’t intend on patronizing a business with such an attitude. 


5. If you have socially unacceptable attitudes, you shouldn’t broadcast them.  It’s 2009, but there are still racists, sexists, and mean people in this world.  Those attitudes are socially unacceptable, and if you choose to post them publicly, you might not have many friends.  Two local DJs made that mistake, and there has been quite the buzz about it.  I’m not going to debate whether what was said was actually intended to be a racial comment.  Regardless, some listeners were offended.  I feel that I can pull a Delfina’s pizza stunt in which the employees wore their negative reviews on a shirt, and I’m going to link to a racially insensitive post written about myself.  Since it is about me, I won’t be hurting anyone else’s feelings by using it.  I’d also like to mention that I am Asian, and the writer’s husband also proceeded to make sexual arm gestures and hip gyrating moves during the interaction.  The two local DJs and the author of the blog post have committed a serious social blunder. 


6. Somethings are better kept private.  Posting personal information online might violate someone’s trust in you, exploit someone’s privacy, make others feel uncomfortable, tip off authorities and lead to your arrest (it’s funny, just read it), or create problems in the work place.  In browsing through the previous blog when adding it to this article as an example, I found the content to be quite inappropriate in social media.  There are support groups for depression and other mental illnesses.  Posting information about personal marriage problems, drug dependency, depression, and post traumatic stress disorder along with identifying photos and information is not a good idea.  This would make online and offline interactions with either person in this couple awkward to say the least.  I feel awkward reading it.  Social media outlets should not be used as a support group.  It is better to find a support group that also uses social media for healing.  There are also websites like FmyLife and PostSecret to vent those private feelings.


7. It is perfectly normal and accepted to disagree with others online.  However, disagreements can be handled with tact.  Unless you do want some major attention, fighting online probably isn’t a good idea.  Fighting in offline doesn’t accomplish much either. 


Also, please read this post written by another Austinite (not related to my incident either).  Tweeps, don’t be mean.  Twitter users are real people with real feelings.  Now that online interactions intersect with real lives, think twice before hitting send.  



Part 8 – References and Acknowledgments



I would like to thank Chris Lamprecht for consulting on the history of online culture. A very big thank you to John Knox, Michelle Cheng, Armando Rayo, Jillian A. Lee-Wiggins, Ricardo Guerrero, and Chris Apollo Lynn for their valuable comments and insight on this article. Also, big thanks to Natanya Anderson, Oscar Davila, Tolly Moseley, and David Neff for their support.

How to live your life, Lessons from Randy Pausch – http://www.thelastlecture.com/



How to build and online community – http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/17758.imc

Newsgroups – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup

Twitter and Human Evolution – http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2009/04/30/twitter-and-human-evolution/

How to say Thank You on the internet: http://blog.steffanantonas.com/how-to-say-thank-you-on-the-social-web.htm

Less online, more offline – http://www.bulldogsolutions.com/marketing-resources/blog/power-down-and-meet-using-online-social-communities-create-real-life-intera
What not to blog – http://thesimplypeachy.com/

Keeping your bodily functions off the Internet – http://twitter.com/BeerWhore/status/4407342941

The Whuffie Bank – http://www.thewhuffiebank.org/

First impressions on the Internet – http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2009/11/10/making-a-digital-first-impression-why-you-can-t-fake-your-facebook-profile.aspx

Tweeters, mean people suck -http://www.phenixpublicity.com/blog/2009/10/26/oh-goodness-tweeps-i-have-a-bone-to-pick.html

Wearing criticisms with pride 1 - http://www.7×7.com/blogs/bits-bites/yelp-tee-almost-more-brilliant-pizzeria-delfinas-pizza

Wearing criticisms with pride 2 -http://consumerist.com/5164533/pizzeria-employees-wear-t+shirts-with-quotes-from-nasty-yelp-reviews

Destroying business relationships – http://ibleedpnk.blogspot.com/2009/10/wtf.html


What’s a single serving friend? – http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=single-serving+friend


RoadTwip – http://roadtwip.us/


Twitter manners 1 to 11 -http://www.scarymommy.com/twitter-etiquette/

http://www.macworld.com/article/141983/2009/08/twitteretiquette.html

http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/the_thoughtful_user_guide/writing_my_twitter_etiquette_article_14_ways_to_use_twitter_politely.php

http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/

http://foodmaven.blogspot.com/2007/03/food-blog-etiquette.html


http://foodblogalliance.com/etiquette/


http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/blog-etiquette-and-eaitng-in-nyc.html


http://www.dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com/twitterquette-twitter-ettiquette/


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iROYzrm5SBM


http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/06/gary-vs-social-media-rules/


http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/twitter-cluelessness-guy-kawasaki

Don’t post negative things about work on Facebook – http://mashable.com/2009/08/10/social-media-misuse/

The real you on Facebook – http://www.utexas.edu/news/2009/12/01/facebook_psychology/?AddInterest=2221

ThatKevinSmith Vs. SouthwestAir – http://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith/status/9166100231

Don’t demand free stuff – http://twitter.com/wnorris3/status/442298971

Background checking your dates – http://sconyers.com/2009/03/first-dates/

Delete your drunken photos before your interview – http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/if-youre-applying-job-censor-your-facebook-page

Gary V’s social media rules, wine not included – http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/11/06/gary-vs-social-media-rules/

Post Secret – http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

My dog is totally awesome – http://romanreign.com/index.27.jpg

Stop Cyberbullying – http://kut.org/items/show/19021

Angry business owners get violent – http://gawker.com/5396122/yelp-fights-make-leap-to-real+world-violence-says-reviewer

Stanford Prison Study – http://www.prisonexp.org/

Social Psychology – Deindividuation – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Identity_model_of_Deindividuation_Effects_%28SIDE%29

The Ku Klux Klan – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

Deindividuation and the KKK – http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/videos/view/20511/
On the Internet, no one knows that you’re a dog – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Internet,_nobody_knows_you%27re_a_dog

Social Psychology – Confirmation Bias – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias

Ignoring problem behaviors – http://teachnet.edb.utexas.edu/~lynda_abbott/Behavioral2.html

Operant Conditioning – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operant_conditioning

Classical Condtioning – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_conditioning

Social Norms – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_%28sociology%29

Social Psychology – Conformity – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformity

Conformity Video (funny) – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1euWT3NZjY

Bazaarvoice white papers – http://www.bazaarvoice.com/resources/research

This site contains a plethora of data on bloggers and the state of the blogosphere- http://technorati.com/blogging/feature/state-of-the-blogosphere-2009/

Blogs are becoming main stream – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/is-blog-reading-mainstream.html

Fred Wilson has a microculture on his blog  – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-blog-where-everybody-knows-your-name.html

I love numbers. I love graphs.  Here’s some data on co-hort analysis – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/10/the-cohort-analysis.html

More Twitter data – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/twitter-data-analysis-an-investors-perspective/

Information travels fast via Twitter – http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/17/is-twitter-the-cnn-of-the-new-media-generation/

Old media evolving to stay alive -  http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/11/can-the-statusphere-save-journalism/

Who’s on twitter? – http://thepowerofinfluence.typepad.com/the_power_of_influence/2009/02/11-of-adult-americans-twitter.html

Quantitative and Qualitative Data – http://regentsprep.org/REgents/math/ALGEBRA/AD1/qualquant.htm

Three new social media articles worth a read – http://ow.ly/B13I

Freedom of Speech on the internet – http://w2.eff.org/br/

In old media?  Here’s how to evolve – http://www.oldmedianewtricks.com/

Word of Mouth Marketing – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_mouth

Internet Trolls – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_%28Internet%29

10 simple rules for Tweeting up – http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/digitalsavant/entries/2009/10/07/10_simple_rules.html?cxntfid=blogs_digital_savant

Classroom Teaching Tips – http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm

Social media, playing economics games, and accountability – http://www.michellesblog.net/social-media-and-society/game-theory-and-the-use-of-social-media

FTC and Blogging Ethics Articles 1-6 :

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/publishing/an_open_letter_to_the_ftc_139297.asp

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/08/taking_liberties/entry5372890.shtml

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1331-Quick-Query-Attorney-Explains-New-FTC-Blogging-Guidelines

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/05/ftc-values-sponsored-conversations-at-11000-apiece/

http://www.blogwithintegrity.com/

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/my-thoughts-on-the-ftc-disclosure-rules-and-bloggers/

http://www.blogher.com/new-ftc-guidelines-and-what-they-mean-you

On building successful long-term relationships – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/06/building-successful-long-term-relationships.html

Follow this business twitter account – http://twitter.com/fsaustin

Oxytocin, it’s good for you (the hormone, not the drug) – http://www.journals.elsevierhealth.com/periodicals/bps/article/PIIS0006322303004657/abstract

Watch what you say on the radio – http://www.myfoxaustin.com/dpp/entertainment/101409_jason_and_deb_from_101x_suspended
You’re a tenured professor on wiki? – http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/archives/001162.html

Dos Equis blunder of a party – http://do512.wordpress.com/2009/07/18/an-apology-from-dos-xx-the-most-interesting-academy/


This story is so Farkable http://thenextweb.com/2009/10/14/fugitive-caught-bragging-facebook-updates/


Find missing kids – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Missing-Children-Lets-Find-Them/99812501383


Craft Brew wins this round – http://monsterboycott.wordpress.com/http://www.rockartbrewery.com/VERMONSTER.html

.plan – http://workbench.cadenhead.org/news/3128/first-blog-plan-file

Mind-blowing social media stats – http://econsultancy.com/blog/5324-20+-mind-blowing-social-media-statistics-revisited
Austin’s online community newspaper – http://www.austinpost.org/

Listservs – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LISTSERV

FmyLife – http://www.fmylife.com/

PostSecret – http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Twtvite.com – http://twtvite.com/

Meetup.com – http://www.meetup.com/
Interesting additional reading articles:

Explaining cognitive surplus or why are we on the Internet – http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/010218.html

Do you Foursquare? – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/19/technology/internet/19foursquare.html?_r=2

Retweet me – http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/ff_twitter

I can’t disclose everything everywhere: http://blog.louisgray.com/2009/11/disclose-this-i-cant-disclose.html

Social Identities and forums: A Frame model: http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/11/more-that-sociologist-erving-g.html

Canidate 101: Do’s and Don’ts: http://meanrachel.blogspot.com/2009/12/candidate-101-dos-and-do-nots-of.html

Social Recruiting – http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/11/social-recruiting.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AVc+%28A+VC%29

Don’t fight on Twitter and murder afterwards – http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/12/man-shot-dead-twitter-murder/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/study_finds_social_media_is_actually_social.php

http://mashable.com/2009/03/08/social-media-blunders/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/22/AR2009102204528.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-facebook-smallbiz27-2009oct27,0,7371262.story

http://paulgraham.com/nthings.html

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/13297824/Technorati-SOTB-2009


 

http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2007/12/theres-no-such-thing-as-social-network.html

http://www.newfangled.com/a_web_designers_response_to_facebook

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114187478

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/21/twitter-has-a-business-job-agency/

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/02/pr-people-getting-pushier-with-bloggers-since-the-recession/?awesm=b5m.cc_deO&utm_campaign=b5media&utm_medium=b5m.cc-twitter&utm_source=hootsuite.com&utm_content=backtype-tweetcount
 

 

How to put on blogger/online media events: A guide for restaurants

Over the last year, the number of blogger/online media happy hours and events have exploded.  With many of new restaurants opening, restaurants undergoing a makeover, and restaurants looking for new ways to reach bloggers/online media, I’ve helped set up some of these events.  Here’s my guide to organizing and executing a blogger event.  This guide was written after attending many wonderfully orchestrated events as well that some that left a poor impression on me.
 
Blogger/Online Media Culture

 
  • Bloggers and food writers tend to hang out together and to know each other well.  There is a strong sense of community, and the active ones tend to keep each other up to date on events and happenings.  Most of food bloggers have full-time jobs, kids, and other hobbies.  Very few are food writer for their day jobs.
  • Make sure your staff understands that a bloggers at an event tend to be different from normal customers.  We’ll typically ask more questions about the food, move around often, and spend quite a bit of time with our cameras.  Be prepared to answer numerous questions from food sources, cooking techniques, and restaurant philosophy.  Expect questions about your wine cellar, kitchen appliances, garden, or other event areas.
Scheduling

 
  • Schedule the event for at least two hours with no other events that day.  Media tends to hang out and socialize for long periods of time afterwards.  Most events are 5-7 pm or 6-8 pm.  The advantage of earlier hours is that the event won’t interrupt normal dinner services.  The disadvantage is that many bloggers work past 7 pm.
  • Plan for the event to be earlier in the week so that the chef has time to chat.  Make sure your event doesn’t conflict with other food events, avoiding blogger, social media, or other community events as well as around the holidays.  Many food bloggers have a list of upcoming food events.
Invites
  • Invites should address all details.  Ambiguity in an attendees’ mind almost always equals disorganization.  Invites should specify whether or not the event is complimentary, requires tickets to be purchased, or if meals will be ordered off the menu regularly.  Invites should also be explicit on whether or not the event is a private blogger event or part of an open invite to the public.
  • Many blogs have co-writers or support staff (photographers).  I have a small pool of photographers that rotate in when my regular one cannot make it.  Specify in the invite whether or not the event can accommodate support staff.
  • Electronic invites with a built in RSVP tool can be sent out with a variety of free online services such as Evite, MyPunchbowl, or PaperlessPost.  Make sure you send in as a separate email, and NOT as part of a weekly newsletter or link on your website.  Most people won’t see the invite, and thus no one will show up.  Be sure to hide everyone’s email addresses when sending email.  No one wants their email to be stolen.   PDF or jpeg versions of the invite can also be emailed.
  • Expect that many people will not attend.  In the Austin food community, usually one-third or less of people invited typically show up.  Factors that decrease attendance includes distance from downtown, parking availability, day of the week, time of the day, and proximity to other big food events.  Expect that about 10% of those who RSVPed will not show up.
  • Ideally, invites to these events should be sent out at two to three weeks in advance.  Be sure to include links to website, chefs bio, facebook page, and twitter accounts.  Last minute invites give the appearance of disorganization.
  • If you’re marketing the restaurant to wildly different groups of people, you might think about doing events for each of the groups separately.  This will help you meet the needs and expectations of all the groups.
Publicity and Contact Methods
  • While there are many good publicists in Austin (email me privately for a list of ones that do a thorough job), there are not so thorough ones.  Check up on publicists by asking for references.  I’ve had one publicists tell me that 5000 people were invited to an event, and only 12 showed  up.
  • While it is nice to have your publicist(s) present at the event, bloggers/online media often want to meet the chefs and owners.
  • Questions and comments from writers should be answered promptly, usually within 48 hours.  I’ve had to wait three weeks for simple answers from a publicist, which ultimately lead to me discarding the blog post.
Photography and Set up

 
  • Make sure there is a well lit area for staging food or set up arranged dishes in a well-lit area for photographs. Adequate lighting is essential for good photographs.  Many food bloggers do not use a flash.  If possible, set up a photo table with food next to a window for photos in natural light.  Dim light or multicolored lights are terrible for taking photographs, and it can require many hours of photo editing afterwards.
  • Avoid sit down style events if working with a fairly large groups (15 or more).  Those types of events have often felt too formal, too stiff, and not a good set up for conversation.  Provide seating, but don’t expect food bloggers to sit still.  One of the best part about these events is the community among the food bloggers.  We love to hang out with each other.
What to Expect and Taking Criticism
  • Do not pressure bloggers to post about your event.  Everyone has different reasons for why they do or do not post.  They might not post because they did not get enough content to post.  They might also decide to not write simply because they lacked the time.  Lack of writing shouldn’t be taken as feed back.
  • Some bloggers will save your blog post for a special occasion.  For example, I posted about St. Arnold’s new brewery three days prior to an event held at the brewery.  Even though I had written the post four months in advance, it served as a teaser to the event.
  • Name tags are especially helpful if inviting different types of media (magazines, online, newspapers, etc…).  It helps facilitate conversation between everyone.
  • You can solicit feedback simply by asking how one is enjoying the food.  Take constructive criticism gracefully.  Most bloggers offer criticism because they want a restaurant to succeed.  Don’t take it personally.  Not everyone has the same preferences.  Expect that some people might not enjoy the dishes presented.
  • Tweeting or posting links to your own website, Twitter, or Facebook is perfectly fine, but make sure you ask permission before using photos outside of a post.  Some bloggers don’t care if you use their photos, some bloggers’ photos are creative commons licensed, and some are not to be used without explicit consent and proper credits.
Promoting an festival or other events
  • It is quite possible that there are bloggers who specialize in covering certain types of food or drinks.  It is to your advantage to offer complimentary media passes.  Covering events is not only incredibly time consuming (some events lasting up to five hours including driving time), but blogging can also be incredibly time consuming.  I’ve spent over 24 hours uploading video for a single post, and I typically spend one to two hours writing text.  My photographer sometimes spends up to four hours editing photos for my blog.  Offering a complimentary media pass is a friendly gesture.
  • To drum up events, you might offer tickets to serve as prize giveaways to prominent blogs.  Not only does it encourage traffic to the blog, but also gives more face time to the event.
Going the Extra Mile
  • Provide attendees with hand outs and detailed information about the dishes.  It is difficult to take notes, eat, chat with friends, and take photos at the same time.  Offering access to stock photos is also greatly appreciated.
  • Publicists and chefs might take a moment to familiarize themselves with the attendees prior to the event.  This gives the impression that the restaurant truly cares and is wants to be part of the food community. It also allows the chef time to create a special dish for attendees who might have dietary requirements.
  • If parking is an issue, providing complimentary valet may increase the number of bloggers who would attend your event.

January 18, 2010

Ignite Austin #1: Oxytocin, U Luv it, I know u do.

January 13th was the first every Ignite Austin.  I was lucky enough to be invited to give my talk to 400 super rad and active Austinites.  From IgniteAustin.org:
Ignite events are talks given in five minutes, 20 slides. What would you say? At Ignite Austin, 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities will take the stage to answer this challenge. The goal is to spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines throughout the city of Austin with fast-paced, bite-sized presentations. It’s a great opportunity to meet smart, interesting people (if we do say so ourselves) and maybe even learn something.
 Though my original submission to Ignite Austin was on Clean Driving and modifications that the City of Austin could make to improve and green their traffic design, I didn’t have time to prepare that particular talk.  Instead, I decided to give  my talk on oxytocin, a hormone I have been researching for the last five years.  I currently have one book chapter in the Endocrinology of Social Relationships edited by Gray and Ellison. 
Follows are several photos from the event and my talk in online version.   If you are passionate about something, and you want others to learn about it too, submit a talk for the next Ignite Austin.  It’s a blast!  Photos from John Knox, Eugene Hsu, and video from Greg Ackerman.  Thanks to Chris Lamprecht for proofing my talk. 

Video of the talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znExUWZClh4


Ignite Austin started with a Paper Airplane contest.  Winner received a pass to SXSW 2010 Interactive. Photo by John Knox.

And some planes were more agile than others.  This one did a 90 degree turn.  Photo by John Knox

This is John’s first attempt at HDR photography.  The subject of the photo?  Trey Ratcliff, a well-known HDR photography guru.  Isn’t it ironic? Photo by John Knox

The talk is starting. Photo by John Knox

Aw…. isn’t that puppy in the back cute? Photo by Eugene Hsu.

People making paper whales for Lisa Maxwell’s talk.  Paper whales rule. Photo by John Knox

Joshua and Whurly are happy.  I’m happy.  Photo by Eugene Hsu.

Getting my oxytocin from @windaddict. Photo by Eugene Hsu.
The talk starts now……the text for each slide is underneath it. I have added extra comments and information that were not in the talk.  You might notice that there are less than 20 slides.  Some slides were repeated.

I have a confession…. I’m an oxytocin junkie, and maybe after the next five minutes, you will be one too.  I said Oxytocin, NOT Oxycontin.  

Now we’re all going to have a little oxytocin. When the next photo shows up, every go aw…… Did you get the warm fuzzies?  If you did, enjoy your oxytocin. If you didn’t, you’re a cold hearted monster. 

During labor, oxytocin causes the uterus to contract and shrink thus aiding the birthing process. Oxytocin is released during breast feeding, and nipple stimulation increase oxytocin release thus facilitating milk let down.

Oxytocin has an amnesic effect, especially in stressful situations.  It suppresses memories of those painful moments; this is most advantageous during childbirth.  In mice that were injected with oxytocin (into the brain), they don’t remember bad experiences.  You can shock them all day long, and they don’t remember a thing. 

Oxytocin is also critical for social recognition.  For strains of mice that do not have oxytocin receptor sites (called oxytocin knock-outs), they also seem to not recognize each other.  It is as if after my five minutes, you still won’t recognize me. For those of you who have had too many drinks or have been spending the last minute playing with your iphones and blackberries, you might not recognize me for a different reason.

Several studies have shown that warm physical contact, like hugs, can increase oxytocin when going into a stressful situation.  Prior to a stressful event, hugs seemed to increase oxytocin levels as well as decrease cortisol levels. In studies with humans and animals, it has been found that physical contact can increase oxytocin levels in both species.  This is evidence that animal assisted therapy is not only mentally and emotionally healthful, but also physically helpful.

In an economics game based on trust, researchers found that players with higher levels of oxytocin tended to trust and reciprocate more.  Some companies quickly jumped at the chance to manufacture oxytocin. 

“Liquid Trust” is supposed to be sprayed on your body so that other people will start to trust you.  Oxytocin cannot cross the blood brain barrier, and it is in no way detected by the olfactory system or the Jacobson’s organ (VMO).  This product is a fraud, however, I do have small vial that you’re welcome to try. The second product is oxytocin tablets.  However, it will never make it past your stomach acids and into your bloodstream. Let’s move onto how you can release oxytocin on your own. 

Relationships are a great source of oxytocin release.  We’ll go through a several ways of releasing oxytocin in a variety of relationships including pair bonding or romantic relationships, relationships with friends, bonding with children, and in business relationships.

One of the easiest ways to facilitate oxytocin release is with a hug.  Hugs are not only free, they are also environmentally friendly, legal, calorie free, and you get a dopamine bonus. 

One way to encourage bonding is mutual self- disclosure.  You trust each other more, you release oxytocin, and you bond.  You can also talk about and think about past bonding moments you’ve had.  Studies have also shown that just thinking about a bonding moment can release oxytocin. 


Now if those methods don’t work, you can also go to the old fashion methods.  Nipple stimulation.  That’s right, just start titillating those nipples to get the oxytocin going.  And there’s also orgasm.  To go into that will surely put me over the 5 minute time limit, so we’ll save that for another day.

Bonding and oxytocin release don’t just happen in real life with warm physical contact, it can also be released when people receive social support.  My study found that women who received social support from their partners tended to release oxytocin and became less stressed.   Social support, even online, from a variety of sources like Twitter, Facebook, or support groups can facilitate oxytocin release.  I frequently ask for it online.  Just search for how many times I use the word “luv.”

It shouldn’t surprise you that I’m a big proponent in nurturing business relationships.  You know the saying, it’s not always about what you know, but who you know, and hope that they like you.  Relationships are an integral part of business.    Here’s an example of my dog using oxytocin to generate some cash flow.

This is my dog. His name is Mouse.  He is an oxytocin machine, and the best marketing tool.  He has made up to $175 in two hours just laying on the ground looking.  There’s only one job I can think of making that much money by laying around, and it isn’t legal. 


When giving children cart rides not only does Mouse make everyone fall in love with him, I have the children hold the donation jar. As we circle around, people instantly start snapping photos and feel compelled to fork over the cash. As we end the ride, I take a photo with a Polaroid and hand it to the parent. If you’re at all familiar with exchange theory, you’ll know what’s coming next.  When asked how much the ride costs, I say, “It’s free, we do it for luv,” and out comes the wallet.  Thank you very much. Hope you get some tonight. Oxytocin that is.
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During my talk, someone wasn’t listening, and she tweeted this.  It was brought to whurley’s attention. He had no choice but to show the world this epic tweet.  That’s right. If she learned nothing from the other 17 Ignite Austin talks, at least she learned what is most important in life.  

January 14, 2010

Up, Up, and Away!

Sunday, Dec. 20th was my first hot air balloon ride with Austin Aeronauts. While it might not be as thrilling as a skydive, my first flight with Austin Aeronauts was fun and exciting in its own way.  The morning started early, as in 6:30 am early.  The reason they start early is because winds tend to pick up over the course of the day, and it really isn’t a good idea to take first time passengers up if the winds are more than nine miles per hour. 
The course of the hot air balloon is entirely up to Mother Nature.  At different altitudes, the wind blows in different directions.  To tell where the wind was going, a helium balloon was released into the air prior to take off. The pilot, David Smuck, and retriever, Chuck, watched the direction of the helium balloon as it floated through different altitudes.  A hot air balloon team consists of at least two people, a pilot and a retriever (not Golden, German Short hair, or Labrador).  The pilot navigates the balloon by releasing air or turning on the flame for more more hot air.  The pilot is responsible for finding a good landing spot for the balloon as well as landing it safely.  The retriever drives to the landing location to pick up the balloon and passengers.  Sometimes it isn’t easy as good landing spots aren’t always easily accessible to a truck towing a trailer.  Good landing spots aren’t always easy to find as there are many parameters.  Dry, flat land sans large rocks or livestock is ideal.  Private property is sometimes the only option for landing, and if so, they tend to look for property that isn’t gated or locked. 

Sunday morning was freezing.  Check out the frost. 

The balloon is first filled with cold air with a high powered fan.  Other passengers are helping by holding the balloon.  The volume of this particular hot air balloon filled is about the size of 60 school buses at 100 ft long and 100 ft in diameter.  This aircraft can hold up to 1500 lbs.  

David, the pilot at the top of the balloon during inflation.

A look into the inflating balloon through the envelope on top. 

The flame throwers.  These make shooting flames into the balloon.

We’re just now starting to float.

The Dell Diamond.

The other balloon.  You can see the shadow of the balloon I was riding in on the other balloon.

We flew over someone’s very dirty pool.  Here’s a photo of the reflection of our balloon in the pool.

Reflection of the balloon in David’s sunglasses.

Cattle grazing.

Shadow of the balloon.

Spooked cows.  When the cow on the left first saw us, it literally freaked out.  It startled violently, stared at us with wide eyes, and froze.  Poor cow.  I thought it was going to have a heart attack.  When humans first see the balloon, they usually run inside to fetch a camera.  Dogs occasionally bark at us. 

After flying for about 90 minutes (~26 miles), we found a good spot to land.  The landing spot was only 3 miles away from the take off locations, and it was a grassy flat area on a public road near some homes.  David begins our descent by turning off the burners and pulling on the red cord to let some hot air out. 

There are no photos of landing because it can be kind of bumpy.  The basket can tilt, and you can get thrown out.  Lucky me got to be the pilot once we landed.  David, the pilot, hopped out of the basket while I got to pull the cord to let out the rest of the hot air. It wasn’t an easy task.  Talk about some rope burn.

Collecting the deflated balloon. 

David and the other passengers squishing the air out of the ballon. 

The balloon is partially rolled up, then rolled into a bag. 

David, another passenger, and I sitting on the balloon to get the air out.

Chuck, our retriever, laying on the balloon to get the rest of the air out. 

Post-flight, everyone gets a glass of champagne as part of tradition. The legend is that the very first hot air balloon was mistaken for a fire-y beast of sorts, and attacked by people on the ground.  People just weren’t used to seeing large objects in the sky with fire in 1783.  The champagne tradition was developed as a way for the hot air balloon passengers to signal to people on the ground that they were indeed humans; after all, who doesn’t recognize a champagne bottle.