FollowFriday – Week of 05/10/2010

Twitter Follow Friday

Time for this week’s #FollowFriday or #FF blog post. Once again, I’m pulling entries I’ve posted over on the Mr. Tweet service. You can see my running list of recommendations on Mr. Tweet. Today’s tweeps of note:

@JohnPoz – the man behind the website analytics gift that is Woopra, I met John P at Photoshop World, Las Vegas. He spins a few tales over at One Man’s Blog, a website infamous through its use of Lady Gaga imagery.

@forces2 – he refers to himself as the DJ of recycled jokes. I enjoy his 140 wit, late at night when I’m knockin’ out work.

@HeathRowe – his blog is great source of Adobe developer info with tutorials on Photoshop & Fireworks just to name a few.

@JustinSeeley – what can I say about Justin? He’s the man behind the Photoshop QuickTips podcast, a staple on most iPods everywhere. He’s seemingly everywhere with a blog & social media company.

@Landailyn – photo restoration artist Janine Smith is one of my cohorts over at TipSquirrel. A Photoshop Guru Award winner, Janine is a star on the rise.

Alrighty, that wraps up today’s #FollowFriday listing. Have a great weekend!

FollowFriday – Week of 05/07/2010

Twitter Follow Friday

Following the footsteps of my good friend Glyn Dewis, who took a note from Chris Brogan, today marks my first #FollowFriday or #FF blog post. For those who enjoy sharing their favorite tweeps with others, I highly recommend using Twitter Lists (I really need to organize mine better), and also the Mr. Tweet service. You can see my running list of recommendations on Mr. Tweet. In addition to listing Twitter ID’s, I will also be posting user website info. Here is today’s #FF selection:

@GlynDewis – he gets the top spot for the idea. You should follow him because he’s a PHENOMENAL photographer, an Adobe Community Professional and all around good guy. We met at Photoshop World in Las Vegas a few years ago, and Glyn is a true inspiration for those folks who want to pursue their dreams. Some folks are all talk. Not Glyn.

@HauteShotsVegas – Stacy creates incredibly sexy images that empower her clientele. Love love love what she does. A fine example of boudoir photography done well.

@LRSecrets – Gene has quickly become the expert in all things Lightroom. Another Adobe Community Professional, I use his Lightroom Secrets website whenever I need a reference. (Surprise, I don’t know it all)

@LearnwithBetsyBetsy’s website is a great learning center for both the hobbyist & professional photographer. She provides a wealth of information including PPA coverage, CPP certification info, and product/service reviews.

@xequals – “Image Workflow Technology Business” that sums up what you’ll get on the XEQUALS website run by Brandon. Another fine resource for Lightroom presets, technology coverage and reviews.

Alrighty, that wraps up today’s #FollowFriday listing. Be sure to check back each week as I’ve a ton of people to talk about.

Make Your Point in 140 Characters

If you haven’t caught wind, yesterday there was a dust up around this status update by @ScottBourne. “I’m consulting with a wedding #photog studio selling against a studio doing $500 weddings. Our new ad – ‘We fix $500 wedding photography.’ “ While I would normally ignore the “controversy” surrounding the heated discussion that followed, I soon learned that my friend @mitzs had received some harsh words via direct message from Scott. I have never met @ScottBourne but I do feel his tweets with @mitzs could have been more civil. Let me go on record and say, “Yo Scott! What up with dat? A bit rude ya know.” If you need to get up-to-speed read @mitzs blog post about professionalism (NOW with tons of comments) then @ScottBourne blog response to the topic of cheap photography, and if you want my opinion on the subject then read my articles on How Much Are You Worth? or Understand Art & Business 101 and finally Forbes & Crowdspring Fire-up Designers

My point today is not to defend or attack anyone, but highlight the shortcomings of communicating via status updates which have evolved from longer written communication via blogs or email. Maybe you’ve been in the workplace long enough to recall HR presentations about proper email etiquette. The primary focus of these presentations was to make employees aware that the written word is often literally absorbed by the reader, and applied wit or sarcasm can quickly be misunderstood. Email evolved to include emoticons, asterisked salutations *smile* even SMS lingo to help convey the tone of a message. The fact is the subtly of vocal inflection is something we easily forget about in the written word. How many times have you received an email you thought was funny, but when read literally by someone else they didn’t get it? “Oh, you’d have to know John to understand.”

It’s now 2010, and email is still used, but SMS messaging is becoming more prevalent. Twitter & Facebook require you to get your point across in 140 characters. In Scott’s blog post today, he responds to the controversy by stating, “I repeat, I was half-joking. I knew it might be a bit controversial given the fact that people who inhabit social media tend to be reactionary and don’t always stop and think before they react. (Me included) But I guess I wasn’t prepared for death threats – again.” Basically, without the context of Scott’s conversation, the statement by itself rubbed a few folks the wrong way. Conversations have only escalated into a large flame war via blogs, comment boxes, tweets & the like. With that in mind here are a few guidelines for communicating in the short form:

1. Learn to use emoticons, gestures or a simple LOL to convey humor, sarcasm, wit, or otherwise not serious statement. “Babies–the other white meat.” will be read literally no matter how absurd that sounds by thousands of folks. Sure, you can argue only the stupid ones without a sense of humor, but you only avoid stupid people by living in a vacuum.

2. Have a lot to say, include a link to a blog post on the topic. This won’t prevent people from flaming you, but at least your status updates show proof of your intentions.

3. If you’re going to DM someone via Twitter, have the decency to follow them so they can DM you back. This promotes a bit of good will, and perhaps a private conversation might (I said might) stay private.

4. Don’t jump on someone for a single “rogue” tweet. Take a moment to read their Twitter stream to see if the statement falls into a larger context. Simply put, maybe that conversation has NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU.

5. Don’t make it personal. Sure you’re getting in some zingers right now, but what happens when you’re reminded of your transgressions later? Passionately arguing a point does not require aggressively attacking the person involved in your discussion.

6. Don’t take it personally. We’re all adults. “Sticks & stones…” and all that stuff. We’ve all been disappointed by folks we admire, those who didn’t meet our expectations. Social media opens up a new world of expression, but it doesn’t hold you hostage. Everyone is free to unfollow or unfriend whoever they choose. You can’t change other people, but you CAN make a change.

This isn’t the first nor will it be the last time a difference of opinion leads to obstinate debate. Strong willed opinions with good intentions tend to get overshadowed by loud-mouthed voices filled with vitriol & angst. That’s why I love United States. Where else can such a dysfunctional, diverse group of people mix themselves into the melting pot of American greatness?

ReTweets – Is Twitter Breaking Community Features

According to yesterday’s blog post, Twitter has plans to work retweets (RTs as they’re used) into the online application. According to Dan Zarrella this is a summary of the change in function, “Twitter plans to add a button to the Twitter web client that says “Retweet” that will allow you to send the same exact Tweet, withno editing, to your followers. Your followers will see the original poster’s avatar and name, even if they’re not following them, and the only indication they’ll see that it is a ReTweet will be a small line of light gray text underneath it.”

I saw a sputtering of tweets today on the topic, and I’m inclined to jump on the #SaveReTweets bandwagon. However, if we’re to assume Twitter has the interests of the community in mind, I would like to add some helpful critiques.

Read More

Who Do You Follow On Twitter?

Blogging to you live this damp, rainy morning. @PicSeshu threw up a blog post earlier this week with the 31 photographers he follows on Twitter. Each Friday is considered “#followfriday” where folks on the Twitterverse use that hashtag to denote who they suggest. If you follow me then you probably follow a lot of the folks that I reply to. Here are some folks I follow that maybe you haven’t seen:

@whoisariston
@pixelatedimage
@photojack
@pairadocsdesign
@GrfxGuru
@jeffcrossphoto
@mikejonesphoto
@kevinkubota
@Lisa_Sage
@DurbinDigital
@staceydoyle
@tony_e
@scottwyden
@xequals

Folks in this list either impressed me with their blogs, creative works, or are just great Twitter peeps. This is not the defacto list, but some of the peeps I haven’t mentioned before on either Twitter or here on the blog. Until next week…