As many of you know I spend a lot of time on Twitter and have been spending more and more on it. 40,000 tweets later I have finally decided that TweeDeck was not the client for me. Yes it handles multiple lists very well and helps you organize your twitter experience. At one time TweetDeck was king in the Twitter client market. It is time for it to move over since HootSuite has been enhanced and improved. Not only is HootSuite usable via any web browser, it is amazing on the Iphone. I have not had one crash as of yet due to HootSuite.

TweetDeck was a resource hog at times using at times 60% of my CPU. For a Twitter client that is unreal. Hootsuite puts almost no drain on my CPU.

HootSuite does not use proprietary lists but is smart enough to take advantage of Twitter lists. This works out well because I have now started to use Twitter lists to help manage my followers. The integration is amazing and slick. I can even create a new Twitter list from within Hootsuite.

Hootsuite with its built in stats and slick design should make it the Twitter client of choice for most people.

Please see the videos below on How HootSuite works:

Everyone who does not understand the new way of doing things should look at this situation I was in. On Friday morning Kelli and I were supposed to get our rental car at 12pm. We had arranged for this by calling the local Enterprise Outlet days before we needed the car. Well at 11am we received a call from Enterprise saying our car would not be ready on time and their was nothing they could do. I do understand the local outlet’s issues but as far as I was concerned I had a booked reservation.

Kelli then called the 1-800 number of Enterprise and spoke with a “Manager” named Tony. He even gave her his “direct phone number” and said he could do nothing till 12 but please call him back at noon if we still had issues. Well Kelli called back and it turns out their is no such manager and they apologized and said the area manager would call us back with in 3 days. That was not going to do us any good.

So what to do – I did what any Social Media Guru would do. I jumped on Twitter and started posting tweets with the hash tag #Enterprise. Well you know what, complaining on social media actually works. I received an @ reply from Enterprisecares. This is the Enterprise Car Rental Twitter account. Elizabeth from Enterprise contacted me and ask me to email her with my concerns. My email is below:

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hi Elizabeth,

The issue we had today was that we had booked a car rental with
Enterprise in Scarborough(Kingston road location). My wife did it
directly with the location. We got a call this morning saying that all
our cars have gone out due to insurance replacements and that we did not
know when and if we would have one. My wife reminded the agent that we
had a sports tourney in Brantford and that is why we did this. What fun
not.

To add to it more the customer service 1-800 number was n o help. A
“Manager” called Tony took the call and gave his number. When we called
back their was no such manager. Not good. I have spent many years in
customer service and I am not impressed at all.

My Wife’s name is Kelly Ellis and our home number is 647-xxx-xxxxx.

We just got a call saying a pickup was coming but it is an hour late. I
am still not happy since I do not like to be lied too and manipulated.

I have mad enough I am prepared on my social media and technology blog
to write an article called customer service that failed.

Thanks

Rob Cairns

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was upset and told them I was going to write an article. Before I received a response from Enterprise that article would have been totally negative.

The first thing was received was call from the local store manager Gene and he said he had a car for us. This all happened within an hour. He arranged one of his staff to come pick Kelli up ASAP to get the car.

I also received the following email back from Elizabeth at Enterprise:

Mr. Cairns,

Let me begin by sincerely apologizing that your reserved rental vehicle was not available at the scheduled pick-up time. After speaking with Gene, the branch manager of that Kingston Rd. location, he informed me of the situation that led to this problem.

The entire Toronto area is running at a sold-out status, meaning that vehicles are in more than short supply. A vehicle that was out with a customer was due to be returned in time to be provided for your rental – however, that previous customer was late in returning it. As there were no available vehicles in the area to pull from, the branch had to wait for this particular vehicle to be returned. Once it was returned, that’s when we were able to come pick your wife up and get her in the vehicle.

I completely understand how frustrating this is when you’ve made advance reservation and have a function to attend only to have your travel plans delayed. However, I’m glad that we were able to get a vehicle and that Gene compensated the rate of one day of rental in apology for such lateness.

In regards to the service provided on our 800 number, that is of great concern to us as customer service is of the utmost importance. Was this ‘Tony’ possibly a Help Desk agent?

Again, I apologize for today’s incident and sincerely hope that between Gene and I, that we have made a better name for Enterprise with you. Should you need any further assistance, please let me know or reach out to Gene at 416-xxx-xxxx.

Respectfully,
Elizabeth

Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Specialty Services
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

I will tell you that a big thanks go out to Elizabeth and Gene for taking care of these issues for us. They deserve a lot of credit. We need a rental car in a few weeks again and I will be renting from Enterprise. They slipped originally but due to the power of social media everything managed to get resolved.

What do you think of the power of social media?

Twitter is my favorite social media avenue of choice. Many people ask me why Twitter instead of Facebook? How do you carry on a conversation is only 140 characters or less? Is Twitter not really a waste of time? The answers to these questions and many more are to come.

Twitter was originally a platform that was developed for mobile devices. It has become all the range on the Internet. It is actually my preferred social media platform. I use Twitter more than I use Facebook, Digg, Friend Feed and all other services combined. The thing I like most is that Twitter is real time. If it is happening now, Twitter is the place to be to follow any major news event or story.

When Michael Jackson died, Twitter was the place to be. The links to articles, comments and insights were amazing. It was all real time. CNN could not even keep up with the news on Twitter. The reality is Twitter has changed the way the news is reported on today. Twitter is now a credible source which the major news outlets rely on for information.

Following major events while you watch them is fun on Twitter. I have watched many a football game and watching the tweets from my friends. It is like you are all in the same room watching the game together. It is great way to share an afternoon having fun together.

Meeting people is one the best experiences that Twitter can provide. I have many great friends on Twitter. They have become an incredible part of my life.

Twitter is an amazing source of information. Occasionally I hit a question I need a quick answer too and can not find it on Twitter. I post a quick tweet and sooner than later I have several ideas or solutions to my question.

Twitter comes on many platforms. Lately my Twitter client of choice is Tweet Deck which I use on both my computer and my IPhone.I often send and respond to tweets while I am on the go as well as at home.

These are some of the reasons I really like Twitter. If you have not tried Twitter, try it out today. You will really like it. If you use Twitter why do you like Twitter so much?

Last week I finished listening to a new audio book about Twitter. Twitter Power by Joel Comm with Ken Burge was a good listen. The book was well read and informative in parts. Parts of the book had something to be desired.

One of the things in the book that Joel does is tells you as the book progresses to follow certain people as he gives examples. I felt at times that I was listening to a big add for someone else’s products. This is not the thing to do in social media and is ironic in a book that discusses how to monetize Twitter. Joel does not declare any disclaimers concerning his recommendations so one has to wonder if he has self serving interests.

Despite the negative, their is a lot of good information in the audio book. Joel spends a lot of time discussing things the novice should know like how to set up a twitter account and how to send tweets. He explains how to gain followers and how to follow people. These are all basic that the seasoned Twitter veteran would know.

Their were several areas that Joel talked about that I really enjoyed in the book. Joel talks about the legal aspects of Twittering and how to protect yourself from being sued. A lot of people say it is just online and Joel reminds the listener that they are responsible legally for their actions. It is a reminder that everyone online should take notice off.

Joel talks about social media etiquette in his book. This is one of my favorite topics which I blog about on a regular basis myself. It is a topic that can not be emphasized enough. Respect goes a long way to making friends, business contacts and long lasting relationships on social networks.

One of the things Joel talked about in his audio book was the Twitter profile and your Twitter page. Unfortunately the Twitter profile is limited but he reminds the listener that you can customize your Twitter page to reflect your brand. This is something I have not done as of yet. Joel has given me some great ideas on how I can do it and how I should move forward. Customizing my Twitter page has made my project list for the next while.

The book is a good review of Twitter. The seasoned Twitter user will not get as much out of the book as the novice user. I consider myself a seasoned user and as I have describe in this review, I came out of it with a couple of tips. On a scale of 1 to 10 I rate this audio book a 7.

What Twitter books do you like?

My Friend @NongLing posted an interesting tweet this week. She asked if their were people on Twitter you would like to meet. I thought about the question and though I would turn it into a blog post. Below is my list:

1. @OwenGreaves – Owen is a great friend of mine from British Columbia. He is a very caring person and knowledgeable in Technology and social media.

2. @Marty0518 – Marty is an Apple Fan boy and an avid sports fan. Most of all he is a great friend and loves to share information.

3. @NongLing – Nong is one of those amazing ladies on the net. She loves to share information and is very caring.

4. @askbillmitchell – Bill is an avid sports fan and a Linux/Open Source user. Bill is up for a great debate anytime.

5. @RichCurrie – Rich is a great friend and very knowledgeable about the topic of SEO.

6. @ChrisPenner – Chris is a real estate agent in British Columbia who really understands social media.

7. @RickRake – Rick is a writer who is always working on some interesting projects.

8. @ByDezin – Suzanne is someone who really cares about the environment and the people around here. She very compassionate and caring.

9. @ZEROGreenhouse – Bob runs the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation and is one of the people I know who cares about the environment the most.

10. @JohnLusher – John is an amazing friend, avid sports fan and has a great prospective on social media.

11. @NurseBevW – Bev is a very caring lady who is great to talk to about any topic.

12. @Kurtissl – Kurtiss is an avid sports fan and really understands social media:) He is fun to talk to about any topic.

14. @RondaPayne – Ronda is a witter. She is a very interesting person to talk to about all kinds of topics.

15. @AllisonCds – Allison writes some of the most compelling personal material I have read in a long time. Very thought provoking.

This is by no means a complete list. It is not meant to offend anyone not on it. I truly treasure all my friendships on Twitter. I am very lucky to know these people and all the other people I connect with on Twitter. They have enriched my life so much.

Who has enriched your life from twitter?

On New Year’s Eve 1999 I was at work in the client services area trying to check computer systems to make sure nothing blew up and we had done all the Y2K patching that we needed to do in order for our computer systems to survive. We all know 10 years later that Y2K came and went with a yawn and the rest of the decade started off amazing with all the technical innovations that were to come. Below is a list of some of them and how much I use them as part of my everyday life:

1. The IPhone

Their is no question that the IPhone has become the smart phone of choice for me. It has become a daily part of my life for making phone calls, running applications and even browsing the web on the go. I use the Iphone regularly even to listen to music.

2.0 LCD Technology

On my computer desk and on my wife’s computer desk we both have 22inch LCD monitors. In past if you bought a tube monitor it would have taken have a desk to put them on. In my living room I have a 40 Inch LCD TV. Imagine having a 42Inch Tube TV. IT would be huge.

The other key besides the size is the price. LCD technology is dropping by the day and they have become very affordable.

3.0 Twitter

Twitter has become of the most important mediums in my social media basket. I use Twitter on a daily basis at home and on the go. I have met many friends, associates and potential clients on Twitter. I often use Twitter to keep up on what is going on in the world. News travels quick on Twitter.

4.0 Digital Camera Technology

When the decade started, digital camera’s had just hit the 3 Mega Pixel point. Today I shoot with a Kodak M380 which is a 10.2 Mega Pixel point and shoot camera with a 5 times Optical Zoom. The amazing part is I paid well under 200 dollars for it.

6.0 High Speed Internet

Hight speed Internet has exploded in the last decade. It has become cheaper and faster. Currently in Toronto you can get DSL speeds of up to 6Meg per second and cable up to 50 Meg per second. Currently I have Rogers cable at 25 Meg per second. This is amazing when it was not that long ago we were all on dial-up.

7.0 Google

In the last 10 years Google has gone from a tiny internet startup site to King of the net. I now use Google for search, email, social networking, picture storage and so on. Their is no question Google has popularized the Internet as well as made it easier for people to use. Google has become the King of search and has made a profit doing it.

8.0 Friend Feed

Friend Feed is a social media service that has amazing real time discussion capabilities. It also aggregates content to and from other services. For a long time, Friend Feed was the service which most of the geeks hung out on. Their real time capabilities were so good that Facebook has bough them recently and integrated real time feed capabilities into it’s service.

9.0 Facebook

Facebook has turned into one of the biggest services in the last 10 years. Facebook has become the communication point for many friends, colleagues and social media people. Most companies and news sources are also now on Facebook. It has become too large a community to ignore.

10.0 Twit.TV

In 2005 Tech TV in the States closed down and Leo Laporte created the Twit.TV podcast network. Twit.tv has podcasts currently on every topic from Google to Home Theater. Currently I am listening to 5 to 6 podcasts from Leo’s network on a weekly basis. The podcasts help make my commute to and from work relaxing, productive and more informative.

I know their are many more innovations in the last decade. It is really an exiting time to be working in Social Media/Technology. Let’s hope the next Decade is just as good as the last one.

In early October, I did a post on respect. If you have not read it, I would suggest you do. it explains how to show your respect on the Internet and how to get respect back. One of the things I touched on was Auto DM’s in Twitter. I explained why I disliked them. The auto Dm’s seem to be such a problem I thought I would do a post which just focuses on them.

Some people would say oh no big deal, auto Dm’s are just another Tweert, Ignore them! I would gladly ignore them except I am getting tons of them every day. This is what the people who send these Dm’s want me to say but guess what? I do not remember the content of any of them. So the feeble marketing attempt on me has failed.

The following are a list of reason’s why I disliked auto Dm’s, my feelings on them and how I handle them:

1. They are spam. I receive enough spam in my email.

2. I tune them out. I do not remember ads on TV why would I remember auto Dm’s.

3. I will Un-follow you instantly.

4. I will never recommend your product. I will do the opposite – tell people to stay away.

5. If you can make money from your system why not just go and make the money? You obviously do not need me so I will ignore you.

6. If you send me an Auto DM you are not interested in building a partnership/relationship.

7. Continuous auto DM’s will cause me to block you and report you to Twitter.

8. Who cares if you have a system for adding 100 Twitter followers a day. 99 of these are probably spam bots. I ignore these as well.

The key on Twitter or any other social network is not to spam people. It is to show respect and build relationships. This way you will keep meeting great people. Their are many great people to meet and engage with. Why waste your time on people who do not want to engage? The choice is yours….

Last night I had the pleasure of being involved in a live discussion on OwenGreaves Live concerning the kind of social networking services which people use. Since the discussion I thought I would summarize which services and tools I use.

1. Twitter

Twitter is the prime service I use these days. This is where all the Geeks and technical people hang out. It is unfortunately the service I seem to get the most Spam on as well.

On the pc/linux boxes I have I use a Twitter client called Tweetdeck. Tweetdeck allows me to setup various groups and show them in columns. It makes the Twitter experience much easier for me.

On the Iphone, the client I prefer to use is Ecophone (formally called Twitterphone). This client works really well for me.

2. Friend Feed

I normally use the web interface to connect with Friend Feed except on my Iphone where I use the Motherfeed client program. I like Friend Feed because of the in depth discussions which take place.

3. Facebook

Originally I got on Facebook to make sure my son stayed out of trouble. These days I use Facebook a lot to communicate with some friends and family. I also use it to communicate with groups and organizations. I am currently in the process of setting up a Facebook fan page for the lacrosse league I run.

I use Facebook from my web browser at home and the Facebook Iphone client on the go.

4. Postereous

I have 2 Posterous accounts. I use one for technical information and one for Life Streaming about my personal life. I use Posterous to push out information to the other services I use.

5. YouTube

I use YouTube to store video’s on which I want to share.

6. Picasa Online

This is Google’s Online picture storage site. I use it to store a lot of my photos on.

7. Flickr

This is Yahoo’s photo site. I use it to store photo’s on.

8. Windows Live

Windows Live is Microsoft’s offering of online applications. I use Windows Live to store photos on.

9. Digg

I generally read the popular articles in the news on Digg a couple of times a week to try and keep up to date.

10. Tumblr

I have a tumble log. I generally only use it to push content to from other sources but I wanted a presence on Tumblr.

11. My Own Blogs

For the last couple of years I have written a Technology Blog(this one) and Life Streaming blog. I use these to share information and communicate with people about what I am feeling and how I am doing.

12. Other Peoples Blogs and Websites

I read a lot of web sites/blogs and when I find an interesting article I comment and share my feelings on the article.

Conclusion

In the next while once Google Wave becomes available I will try this service out as well. I really do enjoy social networking and using the many tools that make it possible.

The last few weeks I have spent more time online in social media websites because I generally enjoy the people. Despite all the enjoyment I have I think it is time to address a major problem online and in society and that is called RESPECT. How do you show respect online and how do you treat people? Unfortunately some people get respect and some people do not. Those who do not often argue that the Internet is not real, people online do not have real feelings. That is so far from the truth that it is not funny. I am one of t he lucky ones I talk online to people from all over Canada and the world as far as Australia.

The issues of respect have been around for as long as people have been online. I am 42 years old and have been online for the better part since I was 13. I have run a BBS, been the NEC for a large Fido net system in Toronto, moderated several online message boards, been heavily involved online in many ways for most of my life. One thing that has not change is how people act and react.

At one time I was a channel operation on the Dalnet network of IRC networks. Back then the big issues was Flame wars. People would not like something someone said and then gang up on that person. The person being ganged up on would enlist his support and then retaliate and so on until it was exhausted. This was were Channel operators came in. We would moderate the flame e wars so they did not get out of hand.

Message Boards were not immune to these either. They had their share and caused many of the good people to leave because they were tired of the way they were treated.

Let’s now fast forward to 2009 and Twitter. Lately the lack of respect on Twitter has been getting out of hand. The type of issues are different than 15 years ago but unfortunately they are still around. What people forget about most in social media is it is all about engaging with people, discussions, getting to know people and building relationships.

The two big problems are auto DMs and @ reply messages that are advertising. I will discuss these two types of non engaging actives individually to explain what wrong with them. I would like to explain how you can be engaging on Twitter. What is most important is building the online community which you are a part off. If you take the time, the people are amazing on Twitter. The key is to get to know them. Once you do your online experience will be even better.

Let’s start with the first issue. The first is auto DMs. What an Auto DM is an automatic direct message. These are sent by Twitter tools to a user of Twitter without manual intervention. The most popular use of auto DMs is to advertise a web site or service. The problem with these auto DMs is they are just another form of Spam. How I handle these is I ignore the auto DM and I will no longer follow the user name which sent me the auto DM. As a result the offending user can no longer send me a DM since I am no longer following them. On Twitter you must be following someone and they must be following you to send them a direct message. The worst part about this is the send user does not get their message out and they will never get another message to you again. So it the long run it is a lose situation for them.

The 2nd issues is @reply spam. In Twitter if you wish to send someone a message you send it as an @userid. What marketers are doing now since people are ignoring auto DMs is sending @reply messages to advertise their product/service without even knowing you. This is spam is the worse way. This also gets me to ignore the user id, block it and report if for abuse. I will also no longer follow the user who sent me @reply spam.

What people have not figured out, is it is ok to promote your blog or service on Twitter but first you need to contribute to the community. Adding something of value is important but getting to know people and showing respect to them is even more important. What People need to avoid doing is what I call the look at me syndrome. The look at me syndrome means someone posts all day buys my service/go to my blog. All I do now is tune these messages out because they are all about the poster and not about contributing to the community.

Getting to know people is important. Adding value to the Twitter community is important. How do you add value people ask? One is to show respect if you like a tweet to re-tweet it(RT for short). Rting good content is a sign of contributing and respect. An RT also gives credit to the originator of the Tweet which is very important. The 2nd way to show respect is to help people. I know if someone posts a technical issue and I can help them I will take the time to assist them in resolving their issue. I will always take time to help someone if I can possibly can.

Respect is not rocket science. It is being aware of other people, their needs, their concerns, getting to know them and most of all caring about the community. If you show respect you will meet some awesome friends on Twitter:) I am very lucky because I have met some of the most amazing people around. The people I know and the relationships I have with them are very important to me.

Take the time to show respect. Your online experience will be better for it,

Lately their have been many issues with Security on Twitter. These have generally come into two forms:

1. Phishing schemes.
2. Password hacking.

Spending some time on these two issues will help save some people major issues in the long run. A lot of it is pure common sense and can be applied from other knowledge which we currently have.

1. Phishing Schemes.

Phishing schemes are making a comeback. They were originally common in email where people clicked on links and were directed to web sites which they did not intend to visit. Twitter makes Phishing that much more easier to apply and take advantage of the end user. You might ask why is this.

Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters. Many of Twitter’s end users have many meaningful conversations in 140 characters. The problem usually occurs when people tweet links to web pages. In order to make the 140 character limits Twitter users use web shortening services such as Tiny URl for example. The problem with web shortening services is you do not know what the actual url is before you click on the link. This is exactly what Phishing Schemes pray on. Before you know it you can be re routed to a url which you never intended to go to.

The question is how to you avoid this kind of problems. The first is to watch Twitter and the people you follow. When phishing schemes start, people generally tweet about them to help keep other people from getting into trouble with them. They warn the people who follow them. The 2nd and one of the best ways is to only click on shortened urls from people you do know and have built a solid relationship with. This will help avoid someone from preying on you and limit the chances of falling victim to one of these schemes.

2. Password Hacking.

Password hacking has been around as long as their were passwords. People have long been trying to steal other’s password and data for years. The best way to protect yourself is to use a strong password and to change it on a regular basis.

The following are some good guidelines for strong passwords:

A. The password you chose should be at least 8 characters.
B. The password should be combination of numbers, letters, upper/lower case and symbols.
C. Do not use your name.
D. Do not use words that people can easily identify with you.
E. Do not use the word password – this is an old one but people still use it.

If you are careful about phishing schemes and use a strong password, your chances of having security issues on Twitter will be greatly minimized.