Nice, Cozy Echo Chambers

After the SCOTUS overturn of DOMA and Prop 8 today, and the epic filibuster over SB-5 in Texas last night, social media was ablaze. It was all I could do to keep up with my Twitter and Facebook feeds (especially since I still don't have internet at home!).

And something came up a couple of times--echo chambers. The idea that if your feeds were a reflection of your own views and responses, then you are living in an environment without challenge to those views, without having to engage with the "other." It's usually painted as a bad thing, implying that if you only listen to people who agree with you, you'll never grow, nor will you make a difference among those who believe otherwise.

However, I don't know that it's such a bad thing.

There have been times in my life when I was definitely not living in an echo chamber. Or maybe I was, but it was more like being held hostage in the other side's echo chamber. Either way, I've been in situations where I am literally forced to reckon with people who don't see eye to eye with me every single day.

And that's exhausting.

I absolutely believe in dialectic, in dialogue and the necessity of opposing forces and ideas. I love having my ideas challenged and trying new things on. But I don't love being forced to, and certainly not constantly.

Right now, I'm enjoying a season of life where I am being embraced by likeminded friends. It's refreshing to not have to defend myself at every word. It's nice to not be subject to the hatred being spewed all over the internet. It's my Facebook feed after all, why should it feel like punishment to read?

There's something to be said about hospitality, and venturing out to meet the other, but I don't think that being hospitable precludes a safe space where you can be yourself among your people.

For more on why echo chambers might not be all bad, check out this piece by David Weinberger.

Vine

I just downloaded the new Vine app put out by Twitter this week.

You can post short 6 second videos, and it's kind of fun to see live tidbits of people's lives rather than just photos.

People are saying it's like Instagram for videos, but to me it seems exactly like the app GifBoom. Did any of you ever use that? It never really took off.

Anyway, I'm looking for people to follow so add me! I can guarantee lots of pug videos.

Social Media Influence and Klout

I created this presentation for my social media class last week, and I thought I'd share it here too.

Klout is a site that aggregates data from multiple social media platforms and measures your influence, resulting in a score.



If nothing else, it's interesting to just see what kind of social media reach you have so you can better understand how to use your influence. However, I imagine more casual users of social media will have little use for or interest in such information. It's definitely geared toward people who are actively involved online and interested in furthering their reach.

Libraries and Pinterest

My library does not currently use Pinterest. I know lots of libraries do, especially larger and public libraries (like NYPL), and it's been a really great way to interact with patrons and get information out about programs and resources. Check out this article to see a bunch of neat applications.

NYPL's Pinterest boards include photos from their archives, infographics about the library, current reading lists, and, of course, pictures of cats.

It seems obvious that such a large and well-endowed library would have plenty to post about. They have such an interesting and extensive collection that having a glimpse into it, even virtually over social media, is exciting. Just check out their "Collections" board.

But I'm skeptical as to what value Pinterest would have for a small academic library such as my own.

The best ideas I can come up with are more for novelty's sake than anything--linking our catalog holdings with displays, or holidays, or current events. And even then it would require hunting for photos of book covers. Plus something like that might be interesting to look at, but has no viral value--not many people would be "repinning" such things. Unless perhaps they had a "To Read" type of board.

Or maybe it could be an interesting way to display books on Reserve--have a board for each course with pins for each text?

In any case, it seems like more work for little return on investment.

Have you seen valuable ways for libraries to use Pinterest? Does your library pin?

Warby Parker and Social Media

If you've followed my blog for a while, you probably remember back in August when I posted about my Warby Parker glasses frames home try-on.

It was a really nice experience, and, prompted by yet another Social Media Management assignment, I wanted to talk a bit about the company's social media strategy and how that plays a part in doing their business--and doing it well.

Warby Parker is linked to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. It has "share" buttons for Facebook and Twitter on each product page, which is typical enough.

But where the company really shines is in its actual interaction and correspondence with customers.

On their Facebook page they encourage people participating in a home try-on to post pictures if they need help deciding on a pair of frames. This creates a community of users--other customers comment and like photos and offer their thoughts, and Warby Parker admins also offer advice, complete with flattering compliments.

On Twitter, the people behind the company's account troll the #warbyparker hashtag and respond to just about every @ mention they receive.

Here's the response I got when I tweeted the Instagram photo of my try-on options:

(I did end up choosing the Sinclair--they definitely know their stuff!)

What makes Warby Parker's social media campaign successful, in my opinion, is that they take the initiative to really personally respond to every tweet, and every Facebook post. I don't know how they do it--probably tons of social media reps--but it makes all the difference. So much better than a Twitter account run by a bot.

I'm not sure if they have a way of identifying if individuals who have interacted with their social media accounts actually end up purchasing their product, but I know that would be a valuable metric to have.

Regardless of metrics, though, I think the pleasant experience of interacting with a company in such a positive way is what it's all about. Consumers have a good feelings toward the company, and that makes them more likely to make a purchase, more likely to stay loyal to the brand, and more likely to tell others about the company.

Well done, Warby Parker. You are a shining beacon of what corporate social media should look like.

Have you had a similarly great social media experience with a company? Let's talk about it in the comments!

UPDATE: After posting this yesterday, Warby Parker sent me this tweet thanking me for sharing my experience. Yep, they are on point.

Pinterest vs. Delicious

For my Management of Social Media class, one of my assignments is to compare two similar social media technologies. While the example given was social bookmarking, and I'm generally loathe to just follow the example, the Delicious/Pinterest dichotomy came straight to mind. I couldn't not write about this--I have too much to say, though I promise to keep it short.

I am an avid user of Pinterest (click here to check out my boards!) and have been since December 2010. I love that it's visual--there are so many beautiful and inspiring images! I could (and have) literally scrolled through pages for hours. The visual nature is especially nice because most of my pins are food. Curtis and I regularly plan our meals based on what we've seen on Pinterest lately (he has a great set of boards too). And nothing ruins a great recipe like a lack of a photo!

The only problem with Pinterest's visual MO is that if you have a page you want to save that doesn't have a picture, you can't pin it to your boards. I mean, apparently you can, but that's a weird cheater way. For this reason, Delicious is better for saving non-large-photo pages.

The other thing I like better about Delicious is that you can have private stacks. Pinterest does not (yet) have an option to create a private board for your eyes only, which is kind of a pain if you're wanting to pin Christmas gift ideas or other secrets. Apparently they're "thinking about" adding a private option, but we'll see. For now, all my secret bookmarks are on Delicious.

I could go on and on about the merits of each site, but what do y'all think? Do you use one or both of these? Which do you prefer?