In this week’s #MMSocialReport – Facebook’s colorful new update, Uber’s new Snapchat filters, a complete calendar of hashtag holidays for 2017 and how to use them, Oculus VR’s new social hangout, and some of the most popular social networks around the world. Dig in as we wrap up the year with plenty of “what’s next”:
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are adding new features left and right. However, increased functionality also means a growing need for monetization. This week, we can see both sides of this double-edged sword: Instagram’s going to post more ads, but hey, you can use Twitter in landscape mode now.
Everyone knows the infamous man in khakis: Jake from State Farm. He’s on the phone with your husband at 3 o’clock in the morning, wearing a red polo and sounding hideous. When we discovered Jake had his very own Twitter account, @JakeStateFarm, we had to follow along and see what this crazy insurance agent of the night had to say. After noticing that what he had to say was a lot, we knew a Twitter Q&A was in order. See what went down below!
My my, hey hey … @HeyRatty is here to stay. We included Michael Ratty in our “Who to Follow in Boston” Twitter Guide because of his journalistic tendencies and also because he has the uncanny ability to tweet about news, sports, and politics while remaining someone we’d like to be friends with. And it’s not all #seriousbusiness; he’s also hilarious.
Hey hey, my my, @HeyRatty can never die. Because his Twitter Tips are now immortalized:
1. It sounds clichéd, but BE AUTHENTIC. Use your own voice. People these days have a good Bullshit Detector, and the knob on that detector is turned up to ELEVEN on Twitter. I haven’t gained Twitter followers by being the funniest or smartest person in Boston. I’d like to believe I’ve done it by being authentic. Not in a rude IDGAF way, though. When people start following me, they know they’re going to get snarky thoughts about the MBTA and sports and politics and movies. Oh, and lots of Instagrams of food. If those aren’t your bag, you probably shouldn’t follow me.
2. Don’t worry about who you follow, the cream rises to the top. Most of the best people I follow I learned about from friends. When you start seeing your friends retweeting articles from the same journalists and thought leaders, it’s probably a good idea to start following those people. If you consistently offer followers unique and interesting content, your follower count is sure to increase.
3. If the firehose of information is too big and you’re following too many people, UNFOLLOW everyone! Charlie Warzel at Buzzfeed did this last year (“I Nuked My Twitter Feed and You Should Too”) and I found it to be a fascinating experiment. I am guilty of this, as I currently follow almost 4,500 people. I am considering doing this same thing to start from scratch.
4. Hootsuite, Schmootsuite! Don’t feel like you need to use third-party apps to get the most out of Twitter. Although I use Hootsuite and TweetDeck for work and to live-tweet conferences and events, I find them too messy and busy for personal use. I don’t like the layout of either of them and, ironically, I find that it’s easier to miss something when information is flying through at breakneck speed. There’s nothing wrong with using good ole Twitter-dot-com.