Reporting Live from the Red Tape.

Are you a user, or a reporter?

That all depends. Do you just consume social media content, or do you contribute?  And what do you contribute?

The Smart Phone has made each one of us a reporter.  Gone are the days of Jimmy Olsen running around with a camera slung around his neck and a duffle-bag of lenses, looking for the next big story.

Every user of Social Media is now a potential reporter. We influence news on a daily basis. In fact, this aspect of the social media game has been embraced by the average user, as well as media outlets around the world.

How not to write a blog post

Generate original content!

It'll be easy!

Everybody does it!

Blah, blah, blah.  Everywhere you go online, there is a self-styled Social Media Guru telling you how to write the perfect blog posting, or twitter post, or (fill in the blank) link.

Great, I can do this!  When I'm not at the computer, I feel like Harvey Korman's character in Blazing Saddles.

Clarity and Continuity

I have been reading a lot about Social Media lately.  Most of it is directed toward making your business presence on SM more noticeable.

One particular blog posting has focused my attention on my Social Media presence.  Courtney Seiter (@CourtneySeiter), a Content Creator with Buffer, wrote about creating a professional bio for your four major Social Media platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook & Google+). She packs a lot of excellent info into her article.

Some of the tips do not translate well to the casual user's personal profile pages, unfortunately.  However, the one thing that most social media sites have in common is the usage of profile pictures, or header/background pictures.

Grammatically Correct Confusion

I read a lot of blog articles about Social Media in Emergency Management, Law Enforcement, First Response, etc.

Lately, there have been conflicting lines of thought regarding grammar in Social Media posts.

The Advanced Public Information Officer training, at FEMA's Emergency Management Institute, stresses "Flawless Grammar" in Social Media releases.

However, Cheryl Bledsoe (@CherylBle), at the SM4EM Blog responds with,

"...The Twitter community will ask you to provide timely, relevant and interesting information. Accuracy is good, too, although in dynamic situations may be a little tricky. I've heard it said that you can be timely or accurate, but rarely both at the same time. Your community will forgive you for inaccuracies as long as you quickly correct misinformation and communicate regularly."