Tawny – A FB group can be used to announce events (via announcements, notes, or status updates) or to allow discussion about you and/or your products.  It provides some visual Marketing since it shows up in a person’s timeline as a group they have joined and can show up as a suggested group to join as well.

Kristen – A FB group is also useful for keeping in touch or being apart of a professional group that might have the same problems and be a good sounding board. You can have a group for just employees. If I owned a quilting shop I would set up a group to see who might quilt professionally or as a hobby, see what their needs are or if they are looking for a certain type of pattern or material.

11.  Can you quit a FaceBook group once you have joined?

Kristen – Yes you can unless you are the administrator of the group. Find the outline of two people on the bottom toolbar. Click there and it will list the groups you are apart of and those your friends are. Click on the group you want to remove yourself from, when it brings up the group profile, on the right hand side click Leave Group.

12.  Do production agriculture people use Twitter and LinkedIn?

Tawny - I don’t know.  However, I do know that people who purchase those products locally and nationally do.  For instance, I’m a member of a Whole Foods group that buys direct from a number of local producers. Or there are a number of groups that promote drinking milk, or eating vegetables.  If you were, as an example, a dairy farm it would be good research to join a group that promotes drinking milk.  It would help you to understand what your customers like about you and you can use that information to promote your products.  The converse is also true.

13.  What is the demographics of Twitter users?

Tawny – I will cite a Pew Research Center study here to answer: Indeed, the median age of a Twitter user is 31. In comparison, the median age of a MySpace user is 27, Facebook user is 26 and LinkedIn user is 40.5

Twitter users are slightly more racially and ethnically diverse than is the full U.S. population, most likely because they are younger — and younger Americans are a more ethnically and racially diverse group than is the full population.

Twitter users are also slightly more likely to live in urban areas, with 35% of Twitter users living in urban areas (compared with 29% of all internet users) and just 9% of Twitterers and status updaters living in rural areas, compared with 17% of internet users.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1117/twitter-tweet-users-demographics

14.  Is there one program that would be better used for a business or school?

Tawny – If a school wants to hit the most possible students they should start by surveying their students and choosing the most used source.  If I had to guess, without specific information on the school, you will be looking at a MySpace or FB account.

15.  I have my settings as PRIVATE on FaceBook and no one can find me (which I like).  Can someone still grab information about me online?

Tawny – FB will do its absolute best to ensure your privacy but you should be aware that the Internet is not fool proof and unbreakable.  Anything that is online in the World Wide Web can possibly be hacked into.

Chris – Keeping private kind of removes the social part of these tools. For personal accounts I would recommend only putting information that you are ok with anyone getting. But for a business you really want it all out there. You want search engines like Google and Yahoo to be able to connect people to you. Try “googling” your name. See what comes up and what information you can find about yourself that is already online.

16.  What are the precautionary settings on Twitter? Image protection?  Stalking, etc.?

Tawny – Twitter has privacy settings which prevent you from being searchable. It also has the ability to block anyone specifically from following you.  You can choose not to be a part of the public timeline which will mean you are private.

Chris – Personally if you want to stay private then you really won’t “get” Twitter. If you want to be able to follow people yet have no followers yourself you can do that. To me if I find I have a new follow and I want to follow them back, only to find out that I have to ask permission first, then I won’t even bother. Being public and out there is the whole point of Twitter. If you do get reply’s or followers that you do not think are appropriate then you can block them easily. You also can only get direct messages (which are private) from people that you yourself are following.

I will say that Twitter could make it very easy to “stalk” another person based on what kind of information they are reporting online. Just be careful with what you are saying about your location. Example: “Hmm I know it’s mid-night but I’m craving Braum’s Ice Cream, luckily it’s just down the street.” This may not be a good update to send out. But you can still express your need for ice cream by just saying it in a more vague way. Like, “Ahh, I gave in to my mid-night cravings for ice cream. Just got me some from Braums.” You post this AFTER the fact when your safe at home. Many ways to express yourself with out revealing your exact plans.

17.  When is it appropriate to use your real name on these sites?

Tawny – I use my real name on all of these sites.  I keep my posts tasteful and appropriate and my photos the same.  I do not include my specific home address on them or tell people how to find me at specific, dangerous times of day.

Kristen – I feel comfortable using my real name, birthday and marriage status because doing a simple internet search will make this information available. I don’t tell people where I live, my phone number. I keep where I work general and don’t post information that would make it easy for people to find me.

Chris – I have used my real name for everything. It’s what helps tie my online identity together. But I may use fun user names or handles like, @thecreative. My goal is for someone to search my name in Google and something tied to me shows up on the first page. Currently, if you search for Chris Peters, the first link to site connected to me is on the 12th page of the search results and it’s my Twitter profile. My name is very common therefore I have to put it on everything I do.

Recap on questions that were answered during the luncheon:

1.     Should we be worried about identity theft in using these websites?  I’m still a little worried about “stalkers” or just bad people.

Tawny – I would caution you on providing detailed personal information or location when using any Internet source.  The Internet is a World Wide Web.  Keep that in mind.

Kristen – I do the best I can to protect myself. Like when I get credit card offers in the mail I shred them and don’t just through them away. On Facebook and MySpace I only accept people I know (friends, family, people I went to high school, college, work with). You can remove people from your friend list too. You can provide as much information about yourself or as little as you want. The information I provide is what you would probably find if you googled my name.

2.     Can you delete items you posted on MySpace? Flairs on Facebook?

Kristen – Yes you can. On Facebook there is an applications button on the bottom toolbar. Click edit and it will list all the applications you have agreed to. You can edit the settings or click the x to delete. On MySpace on the left hand site there is a manage my apps button. You can remove any of the applications you want.

3.     Is there a Twitter-vocabulary list/section on Twitter?  Anywhere?

Tawny – The generic Twitter FAQ section is accessible at http://help.twitter.com/forums/10711/entries/13920, if you need help join Twitter and ask people for help.  They will most likely respond.  In addition there are often tips and tricks sheets passed around via twitter you might come across.

Chris – Just ask. If someone says, #followfriday @tawnydotson and @thecreative cool Tweeps FTW! Then just ask, what’s followfriday? What does FTW mean?

4.     What’s the best way to get your business active on Twitter?  Should I just get on and start tweeting?

Tawny – Time and a human connection.  Connect with people so they know you are a person and the business will come with it.  Recognize that you can become top of mind by creating a personal connection with them (a Pokes fan, a mom of 2 boys, etc) and then they will follow you and see that you are a business owner.  Do not ONLY tweet specials and sales.  Use RT (retweets) to open the door to interaction and add value to the experience rather than just selling.

Chris – The opinion’s vary on this one. And it completely depends on what you want to get out of Twitter for your business. For example, imagine if you state Amber Alert system was on Twitter and a new alert could be sent instantly to thousands on their computers and cell phones. They would only Tweet when it was truly and emergency. There is no need for a personal connection. But for the majority of your businesses you need to make a personal connection to make it valuable. Also, please don’t spam your followers with direct messages. They won’t like it and stop following you or even report you to Twitter as spam. You don’t want that.

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