Call me Casper the Friendly Ghost-Tweeter

I could say it better myself -- but not just yet

What's the solution? These people all need professional help. But since they're unlikely to spend the time they need on the psychiatrist's couch, they'll doubtless end up hiring assistants adept in social media. Ghostwritten Twitters are the hot new Hollywood must-have.

Every tweet will be media-coached. Every blog will be relentlessly edited — and then have typos inserted for authenticity. (Is that why someone pretending to be Rachael Ray consistently misspelled the cooking-show personality's name on a Yahoo blog?) The kids who are pretending to be celebrities on Twitter today will no doubt get paid to do it in the future.

Watch this space: never underestimate the substance beneath the stylish smoke and mirrors, there's jobs to be saved -- and plenty more to be made -- in this digital age ...

Tweeting Made Easy: We Follow

Per T.I.'s suggestion: "They don't know which way to go/I'll make it easy follow me." Twitter launched a site rendering "I have a Twitter, but I don't know what to do with it now that I'm there," a thing of the past. We follow is a "user powered Twitter directory," -- a Twitter search engine, of sorts, using hashtags as keywords to find and follow fellow Tweeters of a feather.

To add yourself to the directory enable/follow @hashtags, then tweet @wefollow three 1 word tags that describe you/your twitter page (i.e. @wefollow #blogger #music #dc) ... it's just that easy!


Obviously the big tags at the mo are (in very particular order) celebrity, music, tech, news -- and yes this is an apt reflection on priorities within the Twitter community.

After a winded round-the-world "Twitter is no threat to G" lecture series, Google is resting its voice and opting to Tweet instead of talk for the time being ... If you can't beat em, define yourself in three tags or less and enter the directory like everyone else ...


Speaking of Twitter -- which is becoming the modern day equivalent of "How's the weather?" -- I'll make it easy ... for you to follow me.

Watch this space: Old man Google's Tweets are speaking louder than his words -- for Twitter to be such a non-threat, We Follow got the leader to G Follow pretty quickly

I'll gladly print you Tuesday for a lead today

A daily dose of People Helping People -- though I'm pretty sure the Circus sneak peek was enough good karma to last me through the week. Three times a day I get HARO queries, where Peter Shankman looks to link journalists with sources. As an intern I haven't technically answered any of the queries but ... I'm working on it, and it doesn't mean you can't

Each day, you'll receive up to three emails, each with anywhere from 15-30 queries per email. They'll all be labeled with [shankman.com] in the subject line, for easy filtering. If you see a query you can answer, go for it! HelpAReporterOut.com really is that simple.

I built this list because a lot of my friends are reporters, and they call me all the time for sources. Rather than go through my contact lists each time, I figured I could push the requests out to people who actually have something to say.

So a few things about this list: First off, yes, it's free.

There's more, but usually "First off, yes, it's free," is the selling point ...

Twitter's Got Me Tweakin'!

Oh New York Times ... Twitter is the new gateway drug (Sorry Marijuana, your shot at love has ended). The 'War on Drugs' is so 20th century. Everything went cyber with the new millenium -- now it's the "War on Social Medi-cin-a" (but you can call it the 'If print parallels digital media to narcotics while we're still 'legitimate' will you start buying newspapers again?' War)


It's not Twitter that's the problem, nor is it Facebook, or MySpace -- well, I'll let Chris Hansen field that -- and the problem isn't Twitterers, or celebrities -- per se. The problem is that the Fourth Estate is back in the hands of the 'everyman.'

PR Sidenote: I do love, though, how the Times focused the 'drug problem' solely on TV anchors -- because it's not the Twittering Times readers that are addicted -- it's only those Tweeting pompous celebrities and pretty people, always about 'me, me, me' that need to be muted. It's not like David Gregory or Demi Moore can be narcissistic without Twitter -- what? It's not like they're on tv for a living or anything. Common people have the luxury of millions of non-digital avenues to get their word out, like "Letters to the Editor," that celebrities/journalists just don't enjoy. Twitter is yet another way the liberal elite is holding the little guy down ... (Lesson: Never fault the constituency, even when you are faulting the constituency.)

The media has more mileage on its laurels than Forrest Gump had on his tennis shoes -- and the biggest threat to the role of traditional media as the apex of 'legitimate communication' is the uninhibited digital domain playing soapbox for 'common nobodies.'

The Times tweets. The Times tweets more than birds do. I get device updates sending NYT headlines to my cell phone ... every. ten. minutes. Just now. Just now I get a text "nytimes: Bits: U.N. Says U.S. Internet and Telecoms Lags" So the Times isn't opposed to Twitter and social media, the Times is opposed to having to share the Marketplace again -- with you; the same you who didn't get their op-ed published in the New York Times can now Tweet the link to their Open Salon page and have the same -- if not greater -- effect.

Watch this space. Ten years from now we'll have a VH1 RocDoc tracing the history of America through the impact of modern media -- no, not The Drug Years -- rather The Mediated Millenium.

I can see it now: The New York Times in a fold out chair, situated to the right, reminiscing about the "Good Ol' Days" when print media "meant something."When everything was peaches and cream. Then the kids woke up.

"It started with the Tweets. Sally would only go on in the mornings ... she said it 'helped start the day.' Then it was before bed, before I knew it her teachers were calling saying she was in the bathroom Tweeting about god-knows-what. She thinks it makes her cool, she said everyone's doing it, she said it makes her feel good -- and that when she Tweets she can say things she can't say otherwise. Now I wish it was just Twitter. Her crowd has changed -- now she hangs out with those 'bloggers,' tapping away on their Blueberries or Blackberries or whatever ... In my day we didn't have this 'social media.' We learned early on that you speak when spoken to, and if you wanted to be heard -- raise your hand and ask an authority for permission. Nowadays I just don't know -- it's everywhere. Everyone feels liberated, like they can say anything and anyone will listen ... And the worst part is that now Sally is an 'opinion leader.' Yeah, people look to her for her two cents -- like it's a dime bag -- and I can't help but think if it wasn't for Twitter none of this would've happened."

Twitter would be a "Times-approved" gateway drug if that digital gateway led people to pursue print journalism; however, the digital domain has become a journalistic entity in and of itself. Why go there, why go to the Times, when everything you need is one click away? There's just no there, there, anymore.

It's the media's job to shift and mold public opinion. Now it's the eleventh hour when the public holds the power of opinion in their own hands, and the last-ditch effort to save a dying medium is to tell the public that their voice is illegitimate. If I was the public I'd be getting a bit nostalgic right about now.

"Y'know the Times is just like my parents, man. Always on my back, 'do this, do that, say this, don't say that. Because I said so.' I'm so stressed, I just need a little something to relax me and get my mind off of things. Hey man -- is that your laptop? Yeah, no, I've never Tweeted before -- how's it feel? Really? Yeah, close the door, I wanna try."

That's how peer pressure goes down everyday -- frightening, really. Now that the youth is empowered again, this whole 'sense of entitlement' trip has anyone thinking they have something important to say -- like their voice is worth something -- bollocks.

When the youth was sitting at home engaging in other 'recreational' activities, everyone told them to get up and make a difference; now that kids are engaged and active again, people are telling them to tone it down -- and cycling them back into that 'recreational realm.'

It isn't about the Times -- which I love -- or Twitter, it's about communication in a changing age.There's enough room in this pasture for everyone -- print, digital, and broadcast -- the key is integration.

A drug is anything used to alter your current state of being. In a time when everyone wants to get elevated to a better place, Twitter might just be the gateway to that Golden Age.

So, scribe away! If you see something, say something -- because now you can! Take that liberal, elite media with all your tree-hugging, earth-saving, people-loving, rights-protecting, sharing-and-caring and some such ... wait a minute ... if the fourth estate is back in the hands of the people -- and *gulp* bloggers -- does that mean ... I'm the liberal elite?

yes ... we ... can? oh no -- it's starting.

There. I said it. Now I'm going to Tweet this link. If it feels good enough I might do it again -- I'll put Betty Ford on speed dial.

Watch this space

The Prototype

Chris Abraham's sage advice on PR in the digital age prompted one key question: What is the prototype/blueprint for Digital PR? Essentially, who is doing it right and how are they getting it done? As a Public Comm/Sociology student and a twenty-something "Millennial" I would say Lily Allen, hands down. As the Wordsworth of the MySpace Generation, Lily is the very voice of the tomorrow's Power 150 -- today!


Lily Allen is a digital phenomenon. She propelled herself into a full-fledged entertainment career simply by utilizing the low risk/high reward method of uploading rough demo tracks on MySpace. After millions of listens, Allen was signed to Parlophone Records and so began the modern pop tale. Her original investment was digital, but the eventual outcome was very real. After selling 2.5 million copies of her album, getting a Grammy nomination, starting a clothing line, having David Cameron hand deliver her first album to President Obama, and hosting her own BBC3 talk show, among other endeavors, Allen returns to the music scene with a sophomore album, It’s Not Me, It’s You.

This career that began in the depths of cyberspace, that has seen such successes both on and offline serves as an ideal case study for the future of digital branding and audience analysis/targeting. Lily in and of herself is a blueprint for digital strategy.

Lily is a demographic. She is a self-proclaimed non-careerist. Lily treats music as a hobby, she spends more time and effort on connecting with her fanbase than she does in the studio – more time in ‘the sphere’ than ‘on stage.’ That is digital PR. Allen created a career around communication and connection: music is the front, it is a mask funding the machine. Lily Allen is the new face of an entity in a digital realm. She is fully integrated. As an individual Allen has moved from following technology trends to setting them. From MySpace she created a digital empire. Her genius lies in her steady constant progress. When MySpace lost stake in the mainstream, Lily moved to Twitter – where she now has well over 45,000 followers after two weeks. The hype is simple: she tweets regularly and responds to her fans. Her new album set the record for single-week digital sales – probably due to the fact she had free YouTube “Official Listening Posts” for each track. In the midst of a failing 'traditional' music industry, Lily is moving forward on the 'progressive' front. She worked with Amazon.com to sell her album for $3.99 during the opening week. Hard albums don't sell anymore. She cut her losses and focused on the digital domain, which is how she set the digital sales record in her first week no less.

While Lily may be a blueprint, she is also a demographic. Furthermore, she represents most individuals within the young digital demographic. So it is important to scope outwards and look at two examples of how to best relate with the increasingly influential Lily and Co.

Rolling Stone knows Lily, “Lily Allen is not just a pop star. She’s a genre.” Allen is young, urban, unaffected, hip, socially-engaged, tech-savvy, and pseudo-political. Lily Allen is the Obama ilk of young culture. With RS' introduction to her album review they no longer reviewed Allen’s album, they reviewed her – and her demographic. They go on to sneer at she who “decides that she is a ‘social critic,’ a job she lacks the insight and the maturity to pull off,” and conclude that Allen is best when she ‘drops the state-of-the-nation pretensions.’ But, why? Obviously, they aimed to cement themselves as the apex of a dying medium -- print publication -- which is becoming increasingly outdated. RS 1.) voluntarily identifies a modern iconography –- of a key demographic no less –- before 2.) taking the McCain stance on inexperience and immaturity. The target readers of this review are socially and politically engaged, and likely within the same age range as Lily. When RS introduces Lily as ‘not just a pop star, but a genre,’ everything on from that point reflects 'the genre.' RS didn’t downplay a pop star's social voice, they downplayed her demographic's social significance. No wonder RS' pages are shrinking -- almost as fast as their young readership. While Rolling Stone gathered moss dwelling on Allen's shortcomings, MTV made moves. Where Rolling Stone saw flaws, MTV saw a future.

MTV wrote on Allen as the most interesting pop star ever created. They call Allen’s new album “the most human pop album ever created.” Here MTV sees Allen as the closest link between celebrity and follower. MTV praises Allen for not being a pop star. This is brilliant because it is MTV saying “You like Lily Allen because she is like you. We like Lily Allen because she is like you. We like you.” MTV illustrates Allen as any other human being. She blogs about her problems. She deals in the gray area – all the time. Allen is insecure, but cocky. She is vulnerable, but unaffected. She just wants to settle down, but hates clingers. She’s political, but slags politicians. Everything is subjective. She is this generation, very, "I'm around enough to get around. I care enough to be cynical but not apathetic. It's my life, take it or leave it -- please?" Like she said in “Everyone’s At It,” "I get involved but I’m not advocating. You’ve got an opinion, yeah, you’re well up for slating.” MTV builds a pop star like the readers, and wins across the board: Lily gets fans. MTV viewers get someone ‘just like them’ in the public sphere. MTV gets cool points and a ride on Lily’s digital coattails.

Lily Allen is like a new Edie Sedgwick. She's got undeniable hype, but it's hard for many to look past the style to the zeitgeist's core substance. However, just like Edie, Lily holds more than a generation's attention -- she embodies their essence. There are world citizens like Bono and Barack. There are young role models like the Simmons daughters. There are celebutantes like Olivia Palermo and Kim Kardashian. There are the pop figures the masses want to be like, and then there are the pop figures who the masses actually are -- and when the latter comes to fruition it makes targeting and messaging that much easier and effective. Edie to most is nothing more than a cautionary tale of modern celebrity, assumed hedonism, style over substance, and pop over purpose; however, this is the same girl who launched the legging revolution -- and a nation no less -- just by being the extraordinary ordinary one. The biggest trends aren't always earth-shatteringly innovative -- they are often just earth-shatteringly accessible and common. Lily is the new extraordinary ordinary one, and the savvy PR professional will note her trivialities -- because those are the future trends; where Bob the businessman saw "leggings?" Betsey Johnson saw "leggings!"

Lily Allen is the prototype for digital PR because she is not a musician utilizing the online industry; she is the prototype because she is a member of the digital demographic who happens to make music people like, but more so because she is a person people like. Lily embodies the fundamental feat of the digital sphere – one that Rolling Stone assumed a flaw – to be human, to authentically reflect – and connect with – the audience you want to target. The more things change the more they stay the same. Even in the digital age, people like communicating with people, not products, or personas.

Lily Allen. Watch this space. She's the 'Girl on Fire' -- wire.