Last year, I spoke at the 140tc in Los Angeles and had an amazing time. One of the best panels there was a celebrity panel put on by Dr. Drew. He lead the panel of: Tony Hawk, Loni LoveLeVar Burton and others to discuss how they use Twitter. Afterward, I got to spend some time with Dr. Drew. I discussed with him, one thing that he had not asked. “Why they use Twitter and what is in it for the celebrity.” He agreed and stated he had tried to get them to comment on it, but none of them would go there. This has always stuck with me.
So, that discussion has taking me here to this. Something I want to try. Interviewing others about their use of not just Twitter,because there is more to social media then just Twitter, but social networks, online branding, blogging, communities, and lots more.
I started by producing an interview with Heroes creator Tim Kring using Second Life last month. I moved on to a short interview with Yvette Nicole Brown of the tv show Community. Which brings me to the next interview I am going to do with actor Lou Diamond Phillips.
For this interview, I plan on recording the interview and posting here on the site. Nothing daring or out of the box I know. What I want to do is ask questions about his use of social networking sites, interactions with his community and such.
…But I need your help!
Lou has agreed to let me get the questions ahead of time from online communities or via my blog. As he put it, ” I think it is a great idea to include the Twitterverse.”
So, what would you like to ask actor Lou Diamond Phillips? Here let me give you some ideas. I will do it in list form, becuase people like lists:
- How and why he uses Twitter.
-His online interactions with fans.
-Why he is not on Facebook.
-Maybe about his SyFy tv show Stargate Universe which just finished season 1.
-It could be about something about La Bamba, Stand and Deliver, Young Guns, his stage work or even his poker skills
I need your help to make this awesome! So bring it!
So leave a question here, send me a Tweet, leave it on Facebook.. heck email me. I will need them by June 25, 2010 and of course I will give you credit for the question!
I hear comments like this a lot. Someone will say something like
” I am writing blog posts 3 times a week. Yet, no one is reading it.”
Or maybe something like this
” People are coming to my blog but not leaving comments. What am I doing wrong?”
I would not say you are doing anything “Wrong” at all. You need to add to what you are doing. Here, let me share 5 easy ways to help kickstart your blog. I will do this in list form, as people like lists:
-So sure your blog might be about “Social Media” like the other 2 million sites on the internet, but it is okay to talk about other things. Notice, I changed from NewMediaChatter to thedavepeck.com. I do not want to be “boxed” in to a single subject. Times change, I want the flexibility to change as well. Bottom line, it is okay to blog about what is on your mind if it is not around your “theme”.
- Post often and if you can do it, daily. It is tough. Heck, I am not practicing what I am preaching right now. It is a good thing and helps with your SEO.
-Make your blog readable to your audience. I try to keep my paragraphs short and the information easy to find. When I read posts, I skim. So if you put your content in, hmmm lets say, oh I do not know, …. a LIST, people can digest it easier.
-Pay It Back! You want comments! You want feedback! Guess what? Other bloggers do to! Leave comments on blogs you read. In turn they are more likely to do the same! Karma!
-Make sure you are on social networking sites. i.e Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and yes Plurk. There is no harm in setting up accounts that automatically post even if your not actively on those sites. Just make sure to have alerts on when people leave comments. This is a great way to distribute your content.
Yvette Nicole Brown is one of the amazing stars on the hysterical TV show Community on NBC and a user of Social Media. You may know her from such shows as Girlfriends, Entourage, The Office,That’s So Raven,Curb Your Enthusiasm,Half & Half, Sleeper Cell, House, Two and a Half Men,That 70′s ShowandBoston Legal. I had a great conversation with Yvette to discuss her career, Community and how she uses Social Media.
Dave Peck: Yvette, I want to thank you for taking time out to have this interview with me. You have a lot going on these days! Can you tell me how you got started in acting?
Yvette Nicole Brown: I started in commercials and then branched out into bit parts on television and in movies. I’m still navigating the beginning stages of my film career, but luckily TV-wise, I’ve landed on a cool show working with folks I absolutely ADORE!
DP:What was the role that you thought “Wow, I might be on to something here?”
YNB:This is random, but probably the role of “Doris Thumper” on “Boston Legal”. It was my first meaty role on a drama and I got to sing, dance (a bit) and be funny (in a painfully shy, dramatic way. LOL!) That I pulled it all off amongst all the acting greatness that was the cast of that show (!!!) continues to be one of my proudest moments and memories as an actress.
DP: What made you get started with Twitter? Were you easily hooked?
YNB: I was primarily a Facebook girl when I started to hear about this hot “NEW” thing called Twitter. The idea of it intrigued me, but still I avoided it for the longest time. Primarily–and this is gonna sound silly–because “friends” on Twitter are called “followers”. For some reason, having “followers” just felt wrong to me. I didn’t feel worthy to have folks following me (LOL!) and I felt the weight of possibly not having anywhere worthwhile to “lead” them. If they’re following, I should be taking them somewhere, right? But after a while, I realized that it was just a word and the challenge of saying something informative or funny in 140 characters was too big of a draw to ignore.
And yes, I was INSTANTLY hooked! Though it took me quite a while to learn all the ins and outs. I didn’t even know that there was an “@” page at first. Two weeks in, I was mortified to realize that lots of people had sent tweets to me that I had never responded to. So I spent like a DAY sending a response tweet to EVERYONE who had written me since I joined. It wasn’t easy, but I got thru everybody. And though it’s a bit harder to do now, I still try to respond to most of the tweets I get… or at least to the questions. To not respond seems rude. I want folks to know that what they have to say matters to me.
DP: What other Social Media tools are you using? i.e do you use YouTube? Facebook? MySpace?
YNB: I’m on Myspace still… though I rarely check it.
And I’m still on Facebook… which I check daily, though I am WAY behind on reading and responding to facebook emails. (I have both a FB Personal Page and FB Public Page )
*In my defense, from what I can see, my inbox has been overrun by invites to events that are mostly in other STATES. Um, how does that happen, exactly? LOL! So I don’t feel so bad about hardly ever checking it.
DP: What do you enjoy about interacting with the online communities most?
YNB: I love the immediacy of Facebook and Twitter (in particular). Anything that’s on my mind or that I want folks to know I can instantly put it out there. Sometimes to my detriment (HA!) Twitter is like a public diary for a lot of folks who use it. And though I try to keep the really personal stuff out of the 140 characters I post; a lot of my daily activities (and surely what I’m watching and what I think of it second by second) finds their way into my tweets. And within seconds I can hear what other folks are thinking. It’s been awesome!
DP: What do you like least about interacting online?
YNB: My least favorite part about interacting online is that it’s easy to forget that I don’t know most of the folks on my pages and they don’t know me. You forget how handy it is to interact with folks you have a sort of “shorthand” with. My friends know my sense of humor and my heart. So even if I word a tweet wrong, they know the spirit in which I wrote it, for the most part. At times, I’ve had to explain myself and my intentions a bit more than I’d like. And I’m explaining things—for the most part—to strangers. That’s a weird feeling. And I will never understand how folks can take an innocuous tweet and slant it negatively. That I just don’t get. And don’t get me started on same day/ East Coast spoilers! LOL!
DP:What kind of reactions do you get when you respond to fans online? Are they blown away? Are you getting the interaction or response you thought you would with Twitter? More, less?
YNB: I started responding to folk first on my imdb page and I’ve continued the practice on each social networking site I join. And I’m still surprised at how shocked people are that I respond. A lot of people even doubt it’s really me saying thanks and answering questions; which I find hilarious. Responding has just always seemed like the kind thing to do. I wouldn’t ignore a compliment or question I received face to face. It’s no different just because it’s online. As for whether it was the response I wanted, I never had a particular response in mind. I’m just happy folks enjoy my work and are kind enough to let me know. That is a blessing.
DP: Do your followers make you laugh with their replies? Any specific interaction that you recall making you laugh?
YNB: My followers (still have a hard time with that word, lol!) are AWESOME! And quite a few are very funny. I feel like together we have created an open, positive atmosphere where all are welcome… as long as they respect folks and are kind. It may seem hokey, but life is hard enough. Who wants to log on and be bombarded with nonsense and strife. I don’t like it and I don’t want it on my page. Luckily, I’ve been blessed to be “followed” by like-minded individuals. And those who bring mess or are looking for some, don’t usually stay on my page long. It’s all too sunshine and rainbows for most of them. And I wish them well as they go. LOL!
DP:Was there any celebrity in particular that follows you that you thought to yourself, “How cool that this person is following ME?!”
YNB: I remember when I found out singer/songwriter India.Arie was following me I was like, “Say WHAT?!” I adore India and her music and to think that she was even aware of me, much less following me was almost TOO much! The same goes for Debbie Allen! Ms. Allen should NOT know I’m somewhere breathing air! LOL! That she does is miraculous at a level I can’t even quantify!
DP: There is a great YouTube video showing the cast of Community’s reaction when you found out you were being renewed. What can you tell me about that moment? How do you feel that it’s on the Internet forever?
YNB: That video shows the EXACT range of emotions I went through. I’ve been told by my friends and family that my face shows EVERYTHING I’m thinking. So it’s ALL there. I was TERRIFIED then OVERJOYED. LOL! And I love that it’s on the Internet “forever”. It’s an honest moment between me and my friends as we heard the fate of a show we love making dearly. That the news was good makes the viral nature of our little video that much sweeter.
DP: Any plans for Yvettenicolebrown.com in the future?
YNB: Do I personally have plans for the future? Or do I have big plans for my website? Which one, Dave?! Ah, I’m just gonna answer both! LOL! Personally, I just wanna keep making folks laugh as “Shirley” on Community. Don’t have any big dreams aside from that one. Being on an NBC Thursday night comedy kinda fulfills most of my childhood acting dreams! J As for the website, I did it all by myself, which I’m really proud of. That said, I’d LOVE to figure out how to add video. But baby steps.
DP: Thanks for you time Yvette!
Yvette Nicole Brown can be seen on the TV show Community, Thursdays 8 p.m /7c on NBC, as well as on Hulu, iTunes and Twitter!
So you want to get traffic to your website you say? You want to be an online rockstar? You want to build your brand online? You want to be the next Ijustine or Chris Brogan?
Well let me tell you a secret.. its easy. You just need to use the right tools and tricks. Let me share with you some of the free, simple and easy ways to do it. These are things I try to do whenever possible. I will do this in list form, as people like lists!
-Setup a Flick Account and post photos of things your doing.
-Post to your Youtube account
-Setup a Linkedin account and write a bio about who you are and what you are doing.
-Setup a Twitter Account and network with people in your industry/field, as well as those looking for information on it.
-Use Google Reader and share items
-Leave comments on others blogs. How else are you going to become part of a community?
-Create a personal website to be your single point of resource. Have all these are social networking sites link to it.
-Be Honest when your wrong. Trust me, I make mistakes a lot, when they are pointed out to me, I share this on my networks
-Thank people in your community when they Retweet, Share, Repost, Pass on, Plurk, etc something you have said or created
-Make your personal website easy to use and easy to pass the information on.. i.e install widgets like Tweetmeme,Facebook Like, and Sharethis
-Do you know who your competition is? What they are doing? Go check them out
-Have a Facebook Fanpage
-Use the same username/handle everywhere you can. Grab it whenever a new social networking site comes up
-Have a web presence everywhere you can.
-Use a site like Ping.fm to post to multiple sites
-Yes you should have a page on MySpace.. it can not hurt.
-Have you looked at FourSquare and Gowalla to find a way to use them? Geolocation is hot right now!
-Make sure to add your website to Google, Yahoo and Bing. It makes it easier for people to find you.
-Do not always “Shout Out” what you are doing. It is called “Social Networking” be social. Interact with others, ask questions, and comment back. Do not just talk about yourself.. you will fail.
-Go to Meetups, Tweetups, conferences, mixers..whatever you want to call them. All of the above is great, but you can not beat real life face time! Check out sites like Meetup and Upcoming for events
These are just some off the top of my head.. what are some of your tips and tricks?
I could go on but you get the idea. It just did not make a different. Did anyone really think people would mass exodus Facebook over the privacy control issues?
People are not going to give up
-seeing pictures of their friends,
-party invites
-reconnecting with people they have not spoken with since 2nd grade.
-Hearing about how wonderful life is for other people.
-Getting Birthday wishes from people they barely know
Bottom line this should not come as a shock to anyone that nothing happened. Facebook, is here to stay. Heck if 10 million people had left yesterday it would still have over 390 millions users! Sure it will morph and change like anything else, but unlike MySpace, it seems to be here for the long haul.
Heck take a look at the facts of Facebook:
So did you even think for a moment about quitting Facebook?
The same goes for Debbie Allen! Ms. Allen should NOT know I’m somewhere breathing air! LOL! That she does is miraculous at a level I can’t even quantify! 
