Five Ineffective Social Media Guidelines for 2010 and Beyond
Social Media Guidelines. What exactly are they? How should they be written? Do we need them? How do we enforce them?  We’ve had this discussion a lot this year. From the firestorm that erupted upon the release of the Washington Post’s social media guidelines to the equally riveting conversation surrounding ESPN’s social media policy. This was one of the biggest tasks I tackled for my company this year as head of our social media task force, and the approach we took seems to be w

Move beyond questions to engage your community
One of the 18 Rules of Community Engagement I outline in my book is simply “Ask Questions.” I believe that people want to express their opinions and asking questions is a sure way to get them to do so. Throw in your own personal story before asking the question and you may strike gold. I’ve gotten many great conversations started that way in the community I manage. It is quite effective. But I am noticing a trend among bloggers, some that I really respect, and that is ending every blog post with a question. Come on! Do you always have to ask what we think about something or ask us to contribute to the list that you’ve deve

Social media strategists to watch in 2010
I received a nice surprise yesterday upon learning that I was listed among 451 Marketing’s top social media strategists to watch in 2010.  I don’t  look for such accolades, I just do my own thing…but it does feel nice. So this is my public word of thanks to those who read this blog, follow me on twitter and elsewhere, send me emails asking for advice and insight, challenge my thoughts and share my work with their peers. It is always my goal to inform, sometimes persuade, rarely convince but always provoke thought.

Integrate consumer trends with your overall community strategy
Have you thought much about how you will take your community to the next level in 2010. I’ve been giving that a lot of thought and I’m not sure that it’s new features for me. We’ve done that and I think our users like what we’ve offered. I’m thinking more in terms  of content and by content I mean multimedia content that adds value to their lives and what they indicate is interesting to them through their behavior in the community. So when I received the latest briefing from Trendwatching.com, my wheels started turning. Instead of viewing it as merely a list, I am thinking mor

Focus on the good when the going gets tough
I received this note from a member of my community today and it came at a great time for me because I have been feeling the weight of community management on my shoulders for a while now.  I am sharing it because these are the types of comments we have to relish. We need them to get us through the tough times. So when you get one, hold on to it and read it on the days when you feel as though you’ve reached the end of your rope. Here it is: Hey Angela, Just wanted to let you know that through the efforts of GOLO I was able to send my son, 82nd Ai