If you are one of the millions of NBA fans on Twitter looking for a way to show your disgust over the NBA lockout, you may want to consider joining the #unfollowNBA movement. Earlier today, Bill Simmons aka “The Sports Guy” sent out a message on Twitter that he was unfollowing the Twitter accounts of all NBA players, owners, executives plus the NBA’s official Twitter account. With that one tweet it was quickly retweeted over 100 times and helped #unfollowNBA become a trending topic on Twitter.
Below is a look at some of the top #unfollowNBA tweets.
- PS: I unfollowed all NBA players, owners & execs + the NBA’s account. Even @dmorey took a hit. The twitter lockout begins! unfollowNBA via @sportsguy33
- Joining the #unfollowNBA campaign on twitter. The players union in the best case example of why unions don’t believe a fair wage exists. via @nilesjager
- “@sportsguy33: Great idea: an NBA Twitter lockout! Just unfollowed everyone NBA related #unfollownba campaign.” via @ratwell
- Let’s hope the #unfollownba campaign will wake up the owners and players. If it weren’t for the fans, there would be no NBA. via @SithLordRyan
- Brilliant campaign. If we all don’t care, they will have no money to fight over. #unfollownba via @ Moester
- I’m joining the twitter lockout of all NBA owners, players, execs. #unfollowNBA via @bkhooduk4
What do you think? Will you be joining the #unfollowNBA movement? Do you miss the NBA or have you found something else to entertain you instead?
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Nov 22nd, 2011. 
Ashton Kutcher, who was one of the early celebrity adopters of Twitter and the first person to reach one million Twitter followers, has announced that his management team will now help manage his account. The news comes after Ashton Kutcher received backlash for a tweet he sent out supporting legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who was recently fired amid a major scandal at Penn State. Below is a look at the tweet in question for those who have not yet seen it.
How do you fire Jo Pa? #insult #noclass as a hawkeye fan I find it in poor taste
In response to the negative feedback, Ashton Kutcher shared the following post on his blog explaining his decision to hand over editorial control of his Twitter account to his management team.
Up until today, I have posted virtually every one of my tweets on my own, but clearly the platform has become too big to be managed by a single individual. When I started using twitter, it was a communication platform that people could say what they were thinking in real time and if their facts were wrong the community would quickly and helpfully reframe an opinion. It was a conversation, a community driven education tool, and opinion center that encouraged healthy debate. It seems that today that twitter has grown into a mass publishing platform, where ones tweets quickly become news that is broadcast around the world and misinformation becomes volatile fodder for critics.
Last night after returning home from work, I walked by the television and simply saw a headline that Joe Paterno had been fired. Having no more information than that, I assumed that he had been fired due to poor performance as an aging coach. As a football fan and someone who had watched Joe’s career move from that of legend/innovator to a head coach that fulfilled his duty in the booth, I assumed that the university had let him go due to football related issues. With that assumption (how dare I assume) I posted a tweet defending his career. I then when about my evening, had some dinner, did a little work, and about an hour later turned on ESPN where I got the full story. I quickly went back on my twitter account and found a hailstorm of responses calling me an “idiot” and several other expletives that I’ve become accustom to hearing for almost anything I post. I quickly retracted and deleted my previous post; however, that didn’t seem enough to satisfy people’s outrage at my misinformed post. I am truly sorry. And moreover am going to take action to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. And as an advocate in the fight against child sexual exploitation, I could not be more deeply saddened by the events at Penn State.
A collection of over 8 million followers is not to be taken for granted. I feel responsible to deliver informed opinions and not spread gossip or rumors through my twitter feed. While I feel that running this feed myself gives me a closer relationship to my friends and fans I’ve come to realize that it has grown into more than a fun tool to communicate with people. While I will continue to express myself through @Aplusk, I’m going to turn the management of the feed over to my team at Katalyst as a secondary editorial measure, to ensure the quality of its content. My sincere apologies to anyone who I offended. It was a mistake that will not happen again.
What do you think? If you are currently following Ashton Kutcher on Twitter, will you continue to do so now that you know his updates are filtered? Should all public figures that are using social media have their accounts managed by a third party?
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Nov 10th, 2011.
Facebook is for people you already know. Google+ is for people you are passionate about. Chris Brogan of CrossTech Ventures talks about Google+ and its future with WebProNews.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Nov 4th, 2011.
Recently I presented on the importance of remembering the people involved in social media – who you are engaging and what they want from you. When brands struggle on Facebook or Twitter it is usually because they haven’t thought through what is in it for the people they are engaging. It is easy as a brand to decide how you want to use social media, and what you want people to do. It is less easy, but more important, to consider what the people you are engaging want to do.
I decided to show this through a simple story – that of Mary (a mum) and Jack (who works in marketing for a large FMCG firm). Jack wants to sell a new breakfast cereal to Mary and thinks that social media isn’t the answer. But he has made a big mistake…
The story is simple but it is one many brands can learn from – understand the motivations, needs and interests of the people you are looking to engage. If you don’t they probably won’t want to follow or Like you.
Engaging with people in social media
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Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 17th, 2011.
Getting started using a social media site like Twitter to market your local business online can be somewhat overwhelming. It’s a lot to manage – writing tweets, sharing links, finding and following local users, growing your own follower base – the list goes on and on. So, how can you know what tips work well best for local businesses on Twitter? To provide some ideas, we sat down with people who use Twitter every day to market to local consumers and asked them to share a few of their top Twitter tips. Check out what our ReachCast Web Presence Professionals have to say about using Twitter for your local business.
1. Follow Local Twitter Users to Build Local Reach – “If you’re having trouble finding ‘real’ local people to follow and are only following other businesses, find the Twitter account of a local celebrity, public figure, or person of interest. See who’s following them and you’ll likely find those ‘real’ local people to follow!” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Jen Holub
2. Get the Most Out of Your 140 Characters – “Get creative with wording to maximize your character count, but don’t let spelling and grammar go out the window! Don’t lose your professionalism just because social media can be an informal platform. The best tweets can be read in a matter of seconds without confusing code or abbreviations. If you have a lot to say, link to a blog post or video – a great way to get the reader looking for more.” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Vanessa Mosharaf
3. Rock the Retweet – “Don’t be afraid to retweet! Many business owners are hesitant to use Twitter’s retweet feature, but it can be very helpful to your efforts. People love to be retweeted, so make a special effort to retweet customers, especially when they mention or check in at your business in a tweet. You should also follow other local businesses and retweet them when they talk about the community or other relevant topics. And if you give, you shall receive! Those who retweet are more likely to be retweeted, meaning more exposure for your business on Twitter!” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Bradley Bowen
4. Thank New Followers to Grow Follows – “Something that can help you acquire more followers is to mention any new followers and to simply thank them for following. This can help followers grow at a much faster rate. People want to be mentioned on Twitter, and if you mention them, they’re likely to mention you as well!” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Ashley Stalnaker
5. Talk Like a Human – “Your business Twitter account should talk like a person—even if it’s representing your company or brand. Think of your Twitter account as a walking, talking personification of your entire company. Depending on your brand, you can take this idea to the limit: Use the first-person and invent a Twitter personality for the brand! This personality can discuss current events, community activities, and engage in pop culture so your consumers can relate to you and to your brand.” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Germaine Paul
6. Get Involved in Conversations – “When it comes to using Twitter for your business, it’s important to not only provide business and service-related information, but also make it a conversation! Your customers are out there wanting to hear from you. Let them know there’s a face behind the name and a smile behind the tweet! Engage with your followers and they’ll remember your effort and give you a call!” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Hayley Wood
“The best Twitter campaigns I’ve seen are done by businesses who use it for more than just promoting a new deal or item. Have fun and just try to talk with your followers like you would offline! You’ll find that more people will want to follow a business that is having a conversation with its followers as opposed to a business that uses it strictly for promotions.” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Ryan Thompson
7. Use Third Party Tools to Manage Twitter Tasks “You can use third-party tools to help your business get more out of Twitter and generate more quality leads. For example, take advantage of third party Twitter tools such as Qwitter, Manageflitter, WeFollow, etc. to help you manage who you follow on Twitter to get better results and make better use of your time.” - ReachCast Web Presence Professional Nick Marino Jr.
Are you using Twitter to market your local business online? What tips or tricks have you learned for getting the most out of Twitter as a local brand? Share your thoughts, ideas, and feedback in a comment!
We’ve Got More Like This! Tweetable Twitter Articles
- 15 Tips to Increase Twitter Followers for your Local Business
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- 7 Ways to Reward Your Facebook & Twitter Followers
- How To: Respond to a Negative Twitter Reply or Complaint
- Steal these Social Media Stats: 15 Amazing Facebook and Twitter Facts
Author: Tiffany Monhollon writes about online marketing, social media, reputation management, and web presence optimization for ReachCast. Find her on Twitter and Google+.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Sep 13th, 2011.
