Jason Tryfon, a swell guy and app developer, writes on his blog about Entitlement and questions whether or not Social Media is furthering this mentality.  You can read his full post here:  The Culture of Entitlement, Is It Forming Thanks to Social Media Sites?

The sense of entitlement isn’t just confined to the Internet and Social Media.  More over, especially American society, has gained a perspective of it is for me, my benefit and you need to make sure you do what ever it takes to make sure I stay happy.  To the point that legal action gets taken, smearing across several avenues takes place, and generally ill will and the perception that it is okay to do whatever it takes to cause any type of harm because something did not work out as planned.

Far too often I think people feel that they have ownership in these services, products, companies, and even other people.  That somehow by providing content, value, or time they have a vested “ownership” that is merited a return on investment.  As the original article points out, most of the sites and services that are being questioned in creating a Culture of Entitlement are free and/or “freemium” services.  In other words there generally is no cost, save with some advertising being shown.

That brings me to another point that was discussed in the comments over on Jason’s site.  Fullbirdmusic states if people spend all this time creating content on these sites, putting time and sweat equity, there should be some form of return.  Randy stats that members on these are not just membership numbers in a database, but are partners in these networks or apps.  Which stands to reason – put something, get something out.  Is that true of life in general?

If we voluntarily use a service, without paying for it save viewing some advertisements and the time we “opt” to put into it, should we have any expectations of return on it?  When we go to work for the day, we expect that we will give an honest days work for an honest days pay.  When we volunteer in our community, we expect that we will see betterment of that community.  When we create content on a service or site of someone else, is it reasonable that we “expect” a return from that, even when they are providing us, the user, with the tools for free or next to free? Are we entitled to expect anything from a free tool when there are plenty of alternatives in any variety of locations, contexts to which we could still publish and push our content?

I used to always take advantage of the $4.95/month hosting specials.  Hey, you got a free domain name, they setup all the DNS, MX mail records and everything.  They even gave you a control panel so you could control any aspect of your account, your site, your email your everything online.  Yet, frequently in the early years of doing web development I constantly found myself persuing open source scripts to speed up development time and to learn from and unfortunately many times this allowed me to find limitations on the hosting provider.  Maybe I needed shell access, or root access.  Maybe I needed a special Apache configuration.  On these shared hosts, it just was not feasible.  My solution?  Instead of expecting them to fix my problem to better my return, I created my own solution and since 2004 have owned and operated my own web, email, dns and database servers.  Sure I could have purchased a dedicated server from the same hosting company – well leased it – but now I own the hardware and pay for a certain amount of bandwidth and IP address, to which monetary value is exchanged for a certain guarantee of service.

So if you are not getting the expected return from what ever tool you are using, maybe it’s time to find a new tool, make your own tool or change what you are doing.  Quite simply, you are getting a return – you are getting a free tool to use, free search traffic, free analytics, advertisement supported applications, services and more.  If there are issues with any of these services, to which you are not paying for a dedicated service level, use a different one, make your own or stop all together.

What do Cowboys, Computers, the Web and Social Media all have in common?

They are joining forces to bring high-tech into the daily happenings of the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series. Through the use of social media, the web and computers (and by computers I mean desktops, laptops, netbooks, smartphones and more) they are expanding their reach into new markets, new genres and opening up the sport to a much wider audience than ever before.

The 2009 season has seen quite a few changes at the PBR – from the main web site (http://www.pbrnow.com) getting a complete face lift early on, to the event information pages being completely redone to provide more information and better timed, to using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to not only communicate with fans, but provide more pertinent information even faster, the PBR has expanded its high-tech offerings to the world at large in the digital age.

You can follow @teampbr on Twitter to get behind the scenes photos in real-time from the events, including the currently happening PBR World Finals. They also provide some scores as they happen in real-time, along with photos of riders, bulls, opening ceremonies and more. They also run some trivia and other fun items during the events to engage followers even more. The same can be said for their MySpace and Facebook pages, with information going out faster and through more outlets than ever before.

One of the late offerings of 2009, which debuted two events prior to the PBR World Finals, was the addition of the Live Event Center. What the Live Event Center brings to the fans is a real-time, live updated ride-by-ride scoring system viewable in their web browser. Within seconds of a rider either riding a bull or bucking off, fans have the ability to see the rider score, buck-off-time if the rider bucked off and in all cases the bull’s score. The fans now have the ability to see the scores and other information at times they cannot watch it on television or the broadcast is delayed rather than live.

Additionally, one of the staff writers, Keith Ryan Cartwright, is “live blogging” – sending updates every few rides with information about the riders, their rides, the bulls, their bucks and behind the scenes text commentary with the riders, and others. This has been placed on to the live score page, so that visitors not only can see the scores, but then get a flight-by-flight “blog” update of all the action that gives some perspectives behind the scores. So now visitors to the PBR site can not only get live scores, flight-by-flight commentary, but they can follow the @teamPBR team and get some photos from in arena as well as other updates in regards to the rides, riders, bulls, bull fighters and more.

If that were not enough, for the debut of the 2009 PBR World Finals, visitors to http://www.pbrnow.com can click on the live photo page and get a very special treat. Andy and Matt from Bull Stock Media, the official photographers and stock provider to the PBR, are posting real-time live in-arena photos. These are in-your-face photos of the bulls, the riders, the rides – all the dirt, grime and hustle that makes the PBR THE Toughest Sport on Dirt. The photos are posted from the start of the show, including the rider introductions, the bull introductions, during the presenting of the American Flag, all the way through to the round winner circle, and eventually at the close of the 2009 World Finals World Champion ceremony.

Combine all of that with a mobile powered web site with the latest news and feature stories, http://mobull.pbrnow.com, blogs from some of the best in the businesses, including 9-time World Champion Ty Murray, and a complete online Audio podcast and Video archive located at http://pbr.tv – it is easy to see how the Toughest Sport on Dirt is fast becoming a high-tech sport – reaching new fans, new avenues and generating more content for viewers than ever before.

Who is in your VAN?

No, I am not talking your grocery-getter mini-van, or your creepy stalker van, or any other gasoline powered vehicle of the boxy van type. I am talking about your Value Added Network. Say what?

We seem to spend so much time these days building networks of all types. Whether it is a computer network, a social network, a family network or what ever type of network – we are fervently trying to connect all the various pieces of our lives together. The people, the places, the things, the ideas – trying to connect it, make sense of it and build our lives from it.

Maybe, just maybe, in our quest to build our networks – online, offline, within social circles and outside the social sphere of our lives we have failed to cue into what should be the most important part of our network – our Value Added Network. So, what exactly is a Value Added Network? I will explain my view of it below.

Value Added Network – the portion of our network that we either directly receive value from, or directly provide value to.

That’s a pretty broad definition if you ask me, so let’s break it down a bit. In any given network we possess, use or a part of, there are any given number of nodes, people, places, things or ideas. These nodes, people, places, things and ideas all have the ability to either give, take or destroy value to our network. This can happen any number of ways – which I might explore in another post later – but will touch on here.

Let’s examine the three things that can happen. Give – this does not mean a physical object, material object, or even any object at all. We can receive value from our network in many forms. We might get an uplifting note on a day we are struggling, which is good because it may improve our outlook and allow us to do something spectacular that day. We might get a small bonus or token from a client, customer or friend…just something to let us know we matter. We might get help from someone on a project, maybe an idea from them that helps us solve a problem. We might setup a new connection that we find is a wealth of information that we can personally apply to our activities and enrich those around and give back. Speaking of giving – we must do our part back to our network. If you can give an encouraging word, do so. If you can give some ideas, help or other resources, do so. Likewise maybe you can give someone an object, something material or whatever that enriches their life within their network, and within yours since they are a part of it.

Taking – yes there are those items, people and places that simply take and never provide any value back. We do have to be careful of these. Why? Sometimes it is wonderful to give, have it taken and not have any expectations in return. However, sometimes people, places and things simply take all they can, and we willingly give all we can and run to the ragged edge because of it. How? Take the highly addictive games we play on our computers. How many hours can we spend doing that? At what point to we cross the boundary and it becomes a time waster? What about the days we spend several hours doing activities that take away from things we really should be doing? Maybe we spend 2 hours being sidetracked on a web site, in a store, driving aimlessly when we really need direction. See how it can run our network dry? Sometimes we become the taker – simply consuming the people, places, things and ideas around us – needlessly, endlessly, ferociously, and selfishly. If you find your self doing this – STOP. It will better your network and those whose network you are drying up.

Destruction. It happens to us all. Those things which simply have no good outcome. There are things in our networks out to destroy out networks – whether it is a person, a piece of equipment, a place – they are there. The sole purpose is to disrupt as much as possible. If it is a person, it might be jealousy, anger, hate or malice that is driving this destruction. If it is something, say a computer or office equipment, maybe it is old and needs replaced, maybe it is malfunctioning, maybe it was no good to begin with. Either way, this destruction can not only destroy and dwindle our networks, but also destroy and dwindle ourselves.

So what is a VAN? A value added network is ensuring that what we spend the most amount of time with in any of our given networks is that which provides a harmonious balance between giving, receiving and realization that we can each give and take as much as it takes if we have built the proper network of people, places, things and ideas. It is merely the idea that we want to give and take, and get rid of that which is not balanced – if we are taking too much, out to destroy or not giving enough and are out of balance, we have a limited value from our network. If those items in our network are taking too much, out to destroy or not giving enough, again it is a limited value network. However, when we can find that balance, we have our value added network – the proper balance of give and take…whether it is interaction with people, places, things or ideas – they all can effect our network equally, just as we can equally effect them.

Your thoughts? Have you evaluated your networks recently? What did you find? Did you find any of the things discussed? Do you agree or disagree with the analogy? Share below in the comments!!

Danny Brown

It’s what he does beyond that though that makes the difference. Danny is a great connector – connecting people through Twitter, blogs, fund raising Tweetups and more; he has got a great sense of community. Just reading through his blog, watching his Twitter stream and seeing how he interacts with all levels of people is a wonderful and learning experience.

One of the best things I take from Danny is challenges. So often at the end of a blog post he leaves the reader with a question, usually one that challenges their thought process, their being or the way they conduct themselves, in life and in business. At least for me, many of his blog posts do that, as do many of his tweets.

Danny also is a very compassionate person – I have seen this through the 12for12k project he created. He has a genuine interest in being the best he can be, while helping those around him – in his local area, or around the world.

That is why I have chosen to lead my #SundayStar series off with him. He has made me challenge myself to become a better person, think things differently, check how I act and react and given me things to think about that have lead to changes inside and out. When you find a person like that, you really should just say “Thank-You”. And why not do a #SundayStar post and send a Tweet or two about it.

It goes like this – we should all have one person that each week we can point to that has a made a difference in our life. It could be the same person each week, a different person each week or whatever. Just so long as we choose one, and only one, each week to give a special thank-you too or a special shout-out to.

The most ideal way to do this would be to write a short blog post about the person – maybe how they touched your life, how they helped you or inspired you. You might write a simple thank-you post thanking them without mentioning the details. It truly can be whatever you want it to be, as long as you are acknowledging those who have made some sort of difference in your life.

Then, after you have your blog post written, head on over to Twitter and send a Tweet. You could do it like the sample below or however you want to.

Why not even go so far as to do a Video post simply saying “Thank-you” to them? I would have a tremendous impact.

Sample Tweet: @their.twitter.id.here – Thank-you! http://link.to.blog.post.here #SundayStar

You can read about it here:

http://www.hashdictionary.com/SundayStar

It started last Wednesday with an email about a job interview. I had interviewed twice before with the company, and their needs have now changed so they brought me back in. I will find out in a day or two if I am the candidate selected. So tonight I have been brain dumping ideas, sorting and preparing in case my life changes tomorrow. If not, I needed to do the brain dump anyway.

A few other things have happened this past week. I started a “social” experiment on Twitter. I was going to start testing the “celebrities” to see which ones truly care and interact with people. Pointless, I know. But still I think they represent a very interesting part of Twitter. I have tried to interact with @moonfrye without a reply. Yes, she is up nearing 300,000 followers, but I started when she was at less than 5,000 followers, and never a response. Expected.

The next “celebrity” I tried to interact with literally shocked me out of my stupor. @kathyireland not only responded, but then went on to carry a conversation on Twitter with me. Interacting, asking questions, responding to my questions. She even started following my wife, @raekaye, and I both. Asking questions, sending DMs and generally being very proactive and very engaging. You can’t fake this stuff people, and if you look at her Twitter stream, you will notice she interacts with quite a few people. That is powerful. Why?

Take a look at what happened during the @aplusk and @cnnbrk saga. The push to hit 1,000,000 followers. Sure there is interaction, but most people think “snob”. Use something other than Twitter. Some have gone so far as to say @aplusk and other “celebrities” (see @oprah) have ruined Twitter. Not so fast – if nothing else they need to be there to protect their personal brand, just as companies need to be there to protect their brand. If either side interacts – it opens a whole new world for them and their supporters.

That brings me to today. Job interview is over – I feel it went very well. I will know in less than 24 hours what the outcome is. It also brings me to today where I did a complete brain dump to my wife of so many thoughts, ideas and just simple things that have been crowding my brain for a while now. This not only helped get them out of my main thought process to be clear for the interview, but also sort them and organize them to start creating forward motion.

So – what about you? What are your thoughts on Twitter celebrities? The job market and interviews? Do you do brain dumps to others, paper, voice or something else to organize? Chime in the comments and let us all know!

That brings me to social media. Does YOUR Business NEED social media? Chances are, with the infancy of this new paradigm, you may not. You may not need to be interacting on every social network, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and others. There may not be much that you can accomplish right now. Besides, launching a complete social media plan and then executing it is not easy, just read Chris Brogan’s thoughts on the subject.

However, there are two things that you should do, right now.

1. Protect Your Brand/Business/Name: Simple enough – go out and register your brands, your business name and your trademarks on the various social tools so that some unscrupulous would-be wanna-be doesn’t do it for the sheer fact you haven’t yet. This also keeps the said wanna-be from causing damages by impersonating you, your business or your brand. Even if you don’t use these accounts right now, just like a domain name, protect who you are.
2. Social Search Your Brand/Business/Name: This one can’t be said enough. If you are not actively searching through Google, Google Blog Search, Twitter Search, on Facebook, MySpace and the other plethora of social networks and social media tools, you are causing damage to your business, your brand and your name. You will have no idea that your product was a trending topic on Twitter, and that 95% of what is being Tweeted is NOT in your favor. Cleaning up this fall out is messy at best, and disastrous with long-term, if not permanent, damage.

There you have it, protect your business, your brand, your name and become proactive. If you should happen to notice chatter in the socialsphere, you have the accounts already in place, with which you can respond.

What if some damaging comments are made, and you find out that some 17-year old registered your preferred name, your brand name or business name and you now have to be ambiguous on your identity until you get that resolved?

What if that 17-year old (or 33 year old) who impersonated you responded to the chatter?

I am also looking at having some guest posts, so if you are interested just contact me through the contact page on this blog, or send an email to bnab [at] southplatte [dot] com.

However, I wonder, would it change if it was businesses sending the auto-DMs? Does that change perception? Some on Twitter said it would even be worse if a business, especially a large corporation, let’s say Dell or Toys-R-Us used this method. My thought process took it one step further, would it change the outlook for Twitter users IF the auto-DM contained a coupon code, discount code, rebate offer or other special offer?

That last thought changed some views, and that is why I am running this poll. Does it change the view if, let’s say hypothetically, one of Dell’s Twitter accounts sent an auto-DM with a 20% or 30% e-code or coupon code? It would be a one-time auto-DM that could really provide some great deals only offered through the auto-DM and nowhere else. Would that change the view of Twitter users? Maybe. Then again, maybe not.

Take the poll and chime in your thoughts in the comments and let’s see what happens – maybe a shift in the auto-DM feelings? Maybe a shift in who uses them and how they are used?

Good guy Danny Brown (@dannybrown)is the brainchild behind 12for12k – raising $12,000 for 12 charities in 12 months. Each month a different charity is picked, and money is raised in support of that charity. Someone happened to his idea this month. That someone was Scott Stratten (@unmarketing). Scott organized a 12-hour Tweet-a-Thon for 12for12k’s March charity, Strength.org.

For 12 hours, Scott pushed the envelope on Twitter. Through the combined efforts of many, spearheaded by Scott and Danny, in 12 hours $13,000 was raised. $13,000 in 12 hours, that is more than $1000/hour in donations.

You know, many people talk about social media not being worth the time or effort. Others talk about how it can and cannot be used. Yet still some say it is a passing fad, just as they do with anything that is “new”. Yesterday, I witnessed the social media micro-blogging service known as Twitter blow so many myths and rumors about ways to do things, what can and can not be done and rules simply shattered.

We MUST NOT label tools because we can all use them for the ways we want, and purposes we want, short of being a snot-nose-spammer – that’s wrong no matter what the tool.

I don’t personally know either Danny or Scott. I do know this – I seen something amazing on March 19th from these two, and I know they are good people from what they did. There were countless people helping to Tweet and retweet calls to action. Each one of us making a small difference, that collectively raised enough money to help feed over 500,000 children over summer break here in the United States. That is power my friends – when you can use a tool to accomplish that type of feat in ONE DAY, in 12 HOURS no less.

It is not about the number of followers, the number of readers or any numbers at all. It is about the passion of connecting, interacting and creating positive value for those who are in your network. Seeing Scott’s and Danny’s passion yesterday was awe inspiring and humbling. Seeing the passion of those tweeting and retweeting was the same. If we only use the tools as a way to get as high of number as possible on readers and followers, just to broadcast our messages to I think we are going to miss quite a few GREAT things that people are doing.

Don’t believe me?

Why don’t you just try it for yourself. Instead of using tools and gimmicks to gain mass followers to whom you merely broadcast yourself and your message to, why not build your followers by way of engagement, interaction and conversation. Sure, it does take longer. In the end though, when you call your network to action, they will do just that ACT. March 19th proved that to me.

To me, Scott and Danny are Twitter & Social Media ROCKSTARS with an exception – they are EXCEPTIONAL people who INTERACT, ENGAGE, CONVERSE and CARE about their networks – it is NOT just a numbers game to either of them.