Ah, so people are using Linked In!

Whenever I tell people what I do for a living, someone always offers an opinion about a website or more often, a social media site. Most people love Facebook (yes, still) and Twitter, but I always get mixed responses about Linked In.

This has always puzzled me as I love it. It's always done the job for me - i.e. helped me network effectively with peers within in my field. I've been headhunted via it. I've found great companies I want to work with as partners. I've discovered new freelance work via it. I've also rediscovered long lost friends! And it seems I'm not the only one - the company announced only last week that they now have 175 members.

They have had some oops moments along the way - hacked passwords anyone? - but it looks like people are slowly recognising the value of this site.

However, if you're struggling to find a use for it,why not follow these top five tips:

1. Make sure your profile is fully updated. Whether you're using it to find a job or make new connections, if you're profile doesn't have all your details, you may miss out on connecting with some key people.

2. Update your status. This used to be linked to Twitter, but Linked In decided they didn't like Twitter that much so now you have to udpate your status automatically. I've found this great when I've been job hunting or recruiting for new positions.

3. Join groups. Yes, there are some rubbish groups on Linked In, but I've also found some really good ones that offer invaluable opions, share great links and are generally worth joining.

4. Check your connections. We're always making new connections through work - so when you meet someone in person, make sure you connect online. In the past, you used to do this via business cards, but I find Linked In is so much more hassle-free - and you don't have to take wads of cards when you move job!

5. She who's been stalking you. It's a bit hidden in the right-hand menu, but I love seeing who's been accessing my profile. Yes, generally it's friends or people I've worked with, but I have had more unknown peeps have a little eyeball, which prompted me to contact them, and voila a job/exciting new collaboration is born.

The Twit Pack: Fake celebs

Twitter has become a beast of a social media medium and it can be difficult to know who to follow, so in this occasional series of posts, I'll be picking my faves Tweeters across various categories. First up, is the fake celeb...

Yes, Twitter has been a revolution because so many real celebrities love to tweet, but aside from the odd hiccup (such as Pink tweeting from her hospital bed or Demi Moore documenting the breakdown of her relationship with Ashton Kutcher), the real stars tend to play it quite safe when tweeting. This is why the fake celebrity is a must-follow. 

There are lots of fake celeb accounts on Twitter, and the best are hilarious - a real parody of that star with tweets that are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud. The following are my top five to follow, but if you have any others you follow, don't forget to share below!

1. @Queen_UK If you're a royalist, this one probably isn't for you, but it has me in stitches. Publishers obviously agree, as she is now a published author with her first book release!
2. @CherylKerl I'm not a big fan of the real Cheryl Cole but I do like this Twit-poster. I can almost imagine the real Cheryl saying some of the dumb things posted...
3. @darthvader He's from the dark side and tweeting his views. OK, so he's not strictly a celebrity, but he is amusing, especially for someone so sinister.
4. @DianaInHeaven This isn't for everyone, especially if they liked Princess Diana, but it does appeal to my very sick sense of humour...
5. @michael_bay__ In real life, movie director Michael Bay doesn't mince his words, so you can imagine how full on the fake Twitter account is. I'd love to know what he thinks!

Did you hear about that riot in London?

Alongside pretty much everyone in London, I was glued to my TV last night, watching the riots unfold. In changing situations like this, TV news is still the one to watch, especially as most news channel were beaming live footage from helicopters showing the violence spreading.

However, Twitter also comes into its own during real-time news situations. I was trying to find out if there was trouble in my local area and even though I'd had some texts confirming there was, the news didn't show anything.

After a quick search on Twitter, not only did I have confirmation that a riot was indeed happening in that specific area, I also had first-had photos and videos of the damage. Twitter is a powerful tool for relaying news stories. I found out about Alexander McQueen's death via Twitter, the same for Amy Winehouse, however, I would warn against jumping on a news bandwagon too quickly.

The problem with Twitter is ultimately she is the local village gossip, spreading rumours like wildfire and not necessarily substantiating any of them. After a minute on searching for riot information last night, I was worried to find that apparently rioters were literally on my doorstep. What? Home alone with a small baby, I was just about ready to flee! However, after doing a bit more investigation, including texting someone who lived in the middle of supposed riot battleground, I could confirm the rumours were just that...

Just as you might enjoy a touch of salacious gossip from the village tittle-tattle, but not whole-heartedly believe it, this is the way to take most news on Twitter – just think of all those celebrities suddenly trending because their death has been announced.

Equally, let's not forget the good Twitter can do. This morning, #riotcleanup started trending – an operation to get everyone to pitch in and clean up the capital. Amidst the bleakness, it created a small sense of hope, igniting that good ole Blitz spirit – and proved that sometimes the village gossip can actually have a heart of gold.

The Ten Social Media Commandments

I’ve been working online for the past 11 years (yes, I really can’t believe it either) and active within social media for work and fun for the last 4 years, so I thought I’d share some of my learnings along the way. First up, The Ten Social Media Commandments...

1. Thou shalt find the right social media network
Different social media platforms suit different customers. I’ve worked with brands who a presence across all social media however, you need to tailor campaigns to suit the audience. Plus, social media, even though it’s pretty cheap to run, is resource heavy so it’s better to participate fully in a couple of platforms, rather than across the board.

2. Thou shalt listen
Monitor what people are saying about you and /or your brand. Whether it’s Google Alerts or searches on Twitter and Facebook, ensure you know what people out there are saying about your brand. If it’s good, great, if it’s bad, listen and see what you could change.

3. Thou shalt engage
Social media is a two way conversation – if people are talking to you, you need to respond in a timely manner, otherwise they’ll think you’re ignoring them. This goes for Facebook, Twitter and for comments on blogs or your You Tube videos. You don’t want to be rude after all!

4. Thou shalt promote
Don’t expect people to just stumble upon your social media offering – promote elsewhere online and offline.

5. Thou shalt update regularly
Social media is 24/7 so if you only update once a week, you’ll lose that engagement. This will mean updating out of office hours and having some strategy in place to deal with comments outside of the 9-5. Social media never sleeps. The thing that annoys me about some brands who have Facebook/Twitter pages is that on Friday afternoon, they say ‘bye, have a nice weekend’ but the social media user is probably more active at weekends and evenings due to a lot of offices banning social media sites.

6. Thou shalt recruit advocates
Make friends with users, get talking to bloggers – these people can spread the word. Invite key tweeters to events, give bloggers an exclusive – make them your friend and they will reward you with a positive response. 

Savvy fashion houses understand this well – Burberry for example invited bloggers to their Autumn/Winter show earlier last year. They weren’t necessarily the most glamorous blogs, but they were influential and well read. It gave them lots of free positive publicity.

7. Thou shalt not ignore negative criticism
Deal with it quickly and without attitude. Sometimes the criticism can actually be useful and help you fine tune your customer service or whatever your particular brand offering is.

8. Thou shalt be active within social media
The more you participate in it, the more you’ll understand it. I’m always surprised when people who update social media profiles for businesses, don’t participate personally! How can you understand the mediums unless you use them regularly? 

9. Thou shalt create engaging content
Give people a reason to visit you social media offering. Create bespoke video and run it on You Tube and Facebook, create exciting interactive competitions. They don’t have to be fancy, sometimes the simple things work best.  I once ran a tagging competition on some photos uploaded for an event – we had over 25,000 tags in just 2 days. Simple, but effective.

10. Thou shalt admit their mistakes
It’s OK to muck up, as long as you admit to them and apologise – I’ve found that consumers of social media are very forgiving people! Hold your hands up, apologise and move on – and always apologise publicly. People are a lot more forgiving when you admit to your mistakes rather than deny any wrongdoing.

Any more social media tips? Share them in the comment box below!

My geek confession

Hi, I’m Jayne, I’m 38 and I’m a... geek! There, I’ve said it. Growing up in the ‘70s there wasn’t much of a chance to be a gadget freak as aside from Simon, every toy and game was of the non-electronic variety. However, in 1984, my life changed. It was Christmas and to my huge delight, I discovered the latest must-have underneath the tree – a BBC micro computer. 

Wow! It was literally like all my Christmasses had come at once. Sure, I used it to play games, loading up Chuckie Egg via a tape (yes, a tape and it took for-e-ver!), but mostly, I loved to make programmes.

They didn’t really do much – well, unless you count a big flashing star coming up on the screen with my name inside of it – but they made me feel amazingly clever. As the typical youngest child, I was always overshadowed by my high-achieving big sister but this was an area I had ownership off – she wanted nothing of this battleground, and I’m sure this added to my new sense of amazement.

Overall, academically maths and science have never been my thing. I’m a creative person. A words person. However, there’s always been an inner geek busting to get out and the new found world of computers and mobiles and eventually, the web, allowed me to tap into this lesser used side of my brain. 

Little did my 11-year-old self knew that one day, being a geek would get me a fabulous job! I stumbled upon the internet, after dismissing a career in newspapers, and was hooked from day one. I've worked for big internet giants such as AOL and Yahoo! and non-internet companies, and I've written about fashion, interviewed A-list celebs and produced content for kids, but the one uniting factor has been the web and technology.

I love it. I love how, unlike traditional media communications, it allows a democracy among people and I love the speed. I could never go back to working on a paper, when I’ve been used to hourly updates. As I sit here typing this, the hacking scandal enquiry is happening and the web came into its own – with everyone and their sister tweeting about the attack on Murdoch with a cream pie by a protestor. Tomorrow, it will really be old news...

Saying all this though, I am a girlie girl. I love fashion. I love nights out with friends. I don’t sit alone at my computer all day, but I do find solice in it.

Having recently had a baby (my DS is now 14 months old), without my iPhone I’d have been lost. It enabled me to talk to other mums via baby-centric communities who were up at silly o’clock enduring another sleepless night. It meant, via Facebook, I could keep up with friends, who were busy living their lives, while I adjusted to motherhood. It meant I could bore my friends and family witless with the many, many photos I took of my DS. It also meant I could keep in touch with friends further afield via Skype. 

Modern technology has enhanced my life and it can enhance yours too and this is where my blog comes in. I’ll be reviewing the apps that have the most relevance to real people’s lives. I’ll be choosing my favourite blogs and alerting you to fabulous new online boutiques. And I’ll be passing on my online knowledge, which hopefully after working in the digital arena for 11 years, is worth something.

So come along for the ride – Digital Dolly is here to prove geek can really be chic.