Highway to Hale

For a few weeks, I took a break from follow Friday – it became so mainstream that it didn’t feel like a recommendation meant anything anymore. But, that’s the idea I’m trying to avoid by giving some backing to my recs here in blog format. I must really mean it if I take the time to write about each person I think you might get some value from following on Twitter. Plus, I’ve got some new ammo. I fell into a follower rut and luckily I have just recently broken out and found some new people to join the original people I really enjoy interacting with.

My first recommendation belongs to one of the craziest PR pros I’ve met. When he says something is going to happen, expect it. I’ve only spent a little bit of time with @YourFriendEvan (Evan White), but in that short time, I realized that his word is worth trusting. He made a deal to only pay in $2 bills one time – go ahead, check his pocket. He wanted to send his mom “way too many gnomes” for Christmas without her knowing – go ahead, check www.donttelldebbie.com. There is nothing better than following somebody on Twitter that offers information, news, and hilarity. Finally, Evan is one of the few people that manages to translate their voice into 140 characters.

My second recommendation comes with a word of warning. He posts great content, but he posts a TON of great content. In other words, if you are only following a few people that you really want to hear from, just keep this name in mind for now. Anyway, @webaddict (Joel Mackey) is, without a doubt, one of the smartest people I follow. He is definitely an expert in the internet space (don’t come at me with pitchforks). On top of being a super genius, Joel is a great guy. Despite having a massive following, Joel responds to every message he receives (@ or DM) without using any automatic response programs. So, don’t be afraid to ask him the hard questions.

My final recommendation is another super genius. He is the man behind “The Science of ReTweets” and the brand new “Dr. TweetDreams” (a Twitter dream analyzer). Those are basically his side projects while he works at HubSpot – creators of the popular Twitter Grader, Website Grader, Facebook Grader, and Press Release Grader. @DanZarrella tweets a little less often than some of my other recommendations (obviously he keeps busy), but his tweets are always valuable. And you better believe his tweets are calculated based on the chunks of data he has collected over the past few years.

Go check out these Twitter users because they definitely improve my Twitter stream and I think you might get some valuable information by following them as well.

Photo Credit: Peter Halasz

A friend (Jason Sadler – iwearyourshirt.com) just informed me that today, October 15, is Blog Action Day – read more about that at http://www.blogactionday.org/. The part you need to know is that this year’s topic is climate change. I’ll be honest, I’m no expert on climate change. But I have found a few things you can do as somebody interested in social media.

1. Unplug your computer when you are not using it.

• It is no secret that those of us riding the social media wave (no Google pun intended) spend a serious amount of time on computers. But, did you know that many electronics (including most computers) continue to draw electricity while turned off if they remain plugged in? Pretty simple right?

2. Work from home.

• On the heels of a post about the elimination of the 9-5 work day from David Spinks, this tip is especially relevant. The way we are communicating today, there shouldn’t be any problem setting up a virtual workplace. I understand it is not always possible, but think of the energy your office could save if everybody worked from home for only one day a week. Don’t forget that nobody would be driving to and from work either. If you don’t believe in the virtual agency, take a look at the success Marketing Profs has had without a brick and mortar office.

3. Participate in events like Blog Action Day 2009.

• Like I said, this post is part of Blog Action Day 2009, but today is not the only time you can rally the troops to make some changes in Climate Change policy. You might have noticed an emphasis on change as of late, and social media is no stranger to helping out a cause. Every month, 12for12k chooses a charity to support. For more information on that, get over to Twitter and ask @DannyBrown all about it. Social media is great about creating power with numbers and you could easily increase those numbers by seeking out events in which you can participate.

4. Use Skype instead of Southwest.

• There is definitely power in face-to-face meetings, but don’t be so quick to jump into the friendly skies for a meeting you could easily have over Skype, or ooVoo. Both offer free conference calling up to a certain amount of users, and ooVoo even offers free video conferencing. Not only will it save you money and time, but it will also create less carbon emissions (airplanes produce about 12% of transportation emissions).

5. Grab some local food for lunch.

• Having lunch in the office (or in the virtual office)? Grab something from the local farmers market to find something healthy that didn’t require a worldwide flight. The food will be fresh and healthy and the climate will stay fresh and healthy as well. Plus, how great would it be to feed an office full of people fresh and healthy food to energize them for the second half of the day?

Bonus Tip: Join SocialVibe.

• SocialVibe is linking social media with brand power on the charity scene. This tip moves away from climate change a little bit, but it really is an awesome utility. I haven’t looked through every cause that is signed up through SocialVibe, but I bet if you look hard enough, you can find a climate change charity for which to lend a hand.

There you have it: Five Six tips for those interested in social media to support climate change efforts. Each tip is very simple and could make a huge difference using the potential of social media. I’m only one person, but I will pass this article on through my network, and I hope you do the same.