That’s why I was so happy to see that Grammar Girl wrote a post on this very topic!

I particularly like the advice to know what you’re talking about. I wouldn’t go on a blog about cars and start spouting off facts, just like you probably wouldn’t come on my blog and start talking about Twitter. (Unless you are a Twitter fanatic like me.)

Another good piece of advice is to keep your comment short – if you’re going over 300 words, then perhaps your idea would be best put in your OWN blog post on your own blog. Bloggers love insightful, helpful comments – not novellas.

Of course, fellow bloggers, it’s up to us to write intriguing posts that not only encourage interaction but help lead it along. Most blog posts should end with a question that requires more than a “yes” or “no” answer.

Do you have as much anxiety about leaving comments as I do?

Google Reader home page

Google Reader is a way for you to get together everything you read online in one, convenient location. It’s particularly useful if you frequent a lot of blogs. To sign up for a website in Reader, sign up for their RSS feed. In some cases, you’ll have to go in to Google Reader and add the URL of the website by clicking “Add Subscription” at the top left hand corner of the page.

Your subscriptions (the websites you are subscribed to in Google Reader) will show up on the left hand side of the screen.

A list of subscriptions

You can click on your individual subscriptions, and the feed for each will then appear in the browser.

Viewing a blog in Google Reader

As you can see from the example above, the blog I’m reading is Healthy Tipping Point (listed at the top of the screen). The latest post on that particular blog is on the top (Apple Butter and Cinnamon). On the right hand side of the screen, you can see what time the blog was posted. (And if you continue scrolling down, you’ll see subsequent posts.)

Pretty cool, huh? You’ll also notice that the blog post you are reading is highlighted with a blue border. When you scroll down to another post, the first post will be marked as read.

If you’d like to save the post for future reading, you can “star” and/or “like” a post.

When you click on “add star,” that saves the blog post for future reading. When you click “like,” that simply shows everyone else viewing the post in Google Reader that you liked that particular post. “Share” and “share with note” are options for you to share to your followers on Google Buzz. There are also a few other options for you.

You’re probably wondering how to sign up! If you have a Gmail account, it’s super easy – just click on “Reader” on the top of your Gmail screen. You can sign up for a Google account with any valid email address, as well. (Simply go to reader.google.com and follow the steps provided.)

Do you use Google Reader, or something else to keep track of your blog and website reading? What are your favorite blogs to frequent? I love blogs that focus on healthy lifestyles, as well as blogs about literature.

Because I’m a writer, people often think that I love grammar and know everything about the English language. They think I lived for the grammar lessons in school.

Well, they’re wrong. I never liked grammar, and I have a difficult time explaining certain things to people. However, there are certain rules that are really basic, and that everyone should know.

• Lose vs. loose. These are two different words with two different meanings and two different pronunciations. You lose your keys. You lose weight. Your pants are loose if you’re losing weight.

• Could of vs. could have. ‘Could of’ is never right. It’s either regional slang or the pronunciation of could’ve, the contraction for could have. If you leave a comment with the correct usage of ‘could of,’ you get a gold star.

• Periods and commas go inside quotation marks.

• It’s not ‘can not.’ It’s ‘cannot.’ (Actually, ‘can not’ is sometimes correct but usually ‘cannot’ is correct, so when in doubt, use ‘cannot.’)

• Its vs. It’s. This is so easy, yet so many people get it wrong! It’s is a contraction for ‘It is” or ‘it has.’ Its is a possessive pronoun. If you’re confused, just read whatever you’re writing. Does “it is” or “it has” make sense? If not, then use ‘its.’

• They’re vs. their vs. there. One is ‘they are’ and one is plural and one is a location.

• Don’t use 12 Noon or 12 Midnight. Just say noon or midnight.

• ATM Machine and PIN Number. When you write it like that, you’re really saying “Automated Teller Machine Machine” and “Personal Identification Number Number.”

• Ending a sentence with a preposition. Your grammar teacher told you not to do this, but in casual writing it’s okay. This rule is fading quickly even for formal writing, and I’m actually okay with this one. It’s annoying, and no one speaks with this rule in mind.

• ‘I’ vs. ‘me.’ Here is an easy way to remember – ‘I’ is the subject of the verb, and ‘me’ is the object of the verb.

There you go, a quick refresher course. Did I miss anything?

Think back to your high school cafeteria. When you first walked in, the dozens (or hundreds or thousands, depending) of voices suddenly hit you like a wave. That’s Twitter.

The teachers and nerds may be discussing the latest news at their tables – stuff you need to know. The cheerleaders and jocks are probably gossiping at their tables – stuff you don’t need to know, but what you probably care about (even if secretly). And the emo kids are off at their own table, talking about some weird things you wouldn’t really care about. Then you have your own table with the people you communicate with the most. Now, from time to time you probably go over to where the drama kids sit because of that cute guy and sometimes you hang with the cheerleaders because your friend Becky is trying out for the squad this year. You join in the overall conversation.

Twitter = high school cafeteria. You only have a limited amount of time (140-characters exactly) to converse and get your point across.

So, you’re done with lunch and now you have to go to your locker. This is Facebook. Your locker is connected to those directly next to and above/below it. Those are your friends. On the outside you have a dry erase board where you put messages, like “2Good2B4Gotten” and your friends write messages to you like “I Wuz Here.” That’s your status update and wall. Inside your locker, you have your books, class notes, lip gloss and a pin-up of Justin Timberlake. Those are your apps and personal information. (You may even have a moldy sandwich … that’s like Farmville.)

You following me? Twitter is the cafeteria – everyone is in there, communicating, eating, sharing. While everyone is technically on Facebook, your own Facebook world is limited. Now, you could certainly open up your locker to everyone – but chances are you would only give out your locker location to certain people. Facebook is about building a community and having a conversation within that community. Twitter is a global conversation, open to all. (If you’re not down with the high school analogy, think of Twitter as a buffet in Vegas.)

Do you dig, or am I completely off the mark on this one? What are the differences between Twitter and Facebook in your opinion?

Todd Jackson, product manager for Google Buzz, called it “an entire new world within Gmail.”

On the other side of the aisle, Facebook is allegedly working on an email client that it is calling Titan. This news has come amidst yet another “Facebook facelift,” with the social networking site releasing more changes to the home page, specifically within the toolbar, with Messages, Notifications and Friend Requests now drop-down menus on the left-hand side of the screen.

There is a strong Internet buzz that Titan will kill off Gmail, especially since it is rumored that Titan will be able to be configured with any email client. With over 400 million users, it does seem that Facebook can’t really go wrong with this move. You can already search the web with Facebook. You’re connected to anyone who you want to be connected with. You can update your Twitter account through your Facebook status update with a special app. So if you incorporate email, would you have any other reason to leave Facebook.com?

I’m actually pretty excited about the changes within Gmail; however, I am a little skeptical about any true success. People are looking for the “next Facebook,” not another Facebook. We’re looking for something different that fits our needs in a better way. For a long time, we thought MySpace fit the bill just fine until Facebook one-upped them. If Google/Gmail had something truly innovative, then this would be an entirely different blog post. But they’re not one-upping anyone here – they’re just copying Facebook and hoping that the Google brand will encourage people to switch over.

What Google does have going for it is that the company has a strong track record of responding to consumer needs and desires. With that history alone we can expect several versions of Google Buzz to update our Gmail accounts over the coming months. And there are unique features that have been announced, and I’m sure there will be many more to come. For example, Buzz will be location-enabled on your phone, so it will know where you’re at without even being told. Ignore the creepy factor, and that’s pretty neat. But I’m not entirely convinced that those features will be enough to persuade people over to the Google-verse.

Who knows? Maybe two years from now I will be eating my words and Facebook will be as irrelevant as MySpace is, with Buzz leading the way. I do think Google is on to something with Google Wave, so perhaps they’ll end up mashing together Wave + Buzz + Gmail to create something that will end up eating the Internet.

The first wave is scheduled to start today; hopefully this won’t be on such a limited-basis release as Wave was. I also can’t find a date on when Facebook’s Titan will be released, though I’m thinking that will be sooner rather than later in an attempt to stay ahead of Buzz.

The best news about all of this? With some of the best online sites duking it out, we all win.

Do you know about Bowser, the Miniature Schnauzer?

Meet Bowser.

Bowser came into my life when he was seven weeks old. I was fresh out of college, adjusting to living on my own and the 40-hour workweek. He fit in the palm of my hand and looked more like a rat than a puppy.

Anyway, I was looking at Bowser the other night (he’s now almost three years old and gets fatter every day), and I was thinking that Bowser knows the secrets to all anyone really needs to know about marketing. After the jump, allow me to explain.

1. It’s all about image. When I’m out with Bowser, people love him! They want to run up and pet him. And he looks super cute. He looks cuddly and friendly. But the truth is that he’s a really mean guy. He’s always trying to bully me out of my bed, and he really doesn’t like strangers. He loves bossing other dogs around. In fact, Bowser’s kind of a jerk. But that doesn’t stop people who should know better from trying to get on his good side every time they see him. My one friend is always bringing him cookies while my grandmother plies him with toys. Bowser knows his image is very important, so he is always just nice enough to keep people coming back for more.
2. It’s all about looking for innovative ways to solve a problem. When his tennis ball rolled under my bed the other night, he first tried to solve the problem by pulling my sheets off of the bed. When that didn’t work, he tried to crawl under the bed but found he was too fat to fit. Finally, he tossed another toy under the bed to knock the tennis ball closer to the side so he could grab it with his paw. Instead of leaving the problem or waiting for me to fix it for him, he took matters into his own paws and came up with a method that worked for him.
3. It’s all about planning …
4. … and it’s all about going with the flow. Bowser is a creature of habit; he gets his dinner on time every night. He goes on his walk at the same time. If I’m five minutes off, he’s very vocal about letting me know. But he also knows when to just roll with things – I’ve moved around a lot in the past three years, and he always handles that well. So while he is accountable for sticking to a schedule, he can also adapt to challenges thrown his way. An important lesson for marketing!
5. It’s all about relationships with key people. This relates to #1. As I’ve mentioned, Bowser is not really that “Norman Rockwell” dog – he’s talkative and a bully. But he knows who the main people are – and he knows how to butter them up. He knows my mom will give him treats from the table and he knows my dad will roughhouse with him. He knows my one friend will always scratch his belly. With these people, he builds on his positive image and continues to cultivate those key relationships. (Maybe you could call those people his target markets.)

Bowser also understands the value of an online presence – he currently blogs and tweets.

Is Bowser a marketing genius? I don’t know – but I think he’s on to something. Even if you don’t think you can learn much about marketing from him, you can learn how to pilfer off as many cookies as possible before people realize just how many you’ve had.

And that information is priceless.

What marketing information is Bowser missing? Do you think his marketing strategies are decent or do they need some improvement? What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

Marketing genius?

Dear Facebook,

Facebook, Facebook, Facebook. What happened to you? What’s happened to us? When I first started seeing you, I was still in college. You promised me exclusivity, and in return I shared important information and intriguing facts about me that hardly anyone knew at the time, including the fact that I truly believe “The Great Gatsby” and “Confessions of a Shopaholic” are two of the greatest books of all time.

After some time of that, you began sneaking around. My friends told me that you were flirting with the idea of letting high school students join us. What?!? These were high school students. I thought you and I were beyond that. But you let high school students on, and I eventually became used to that fact. I still loved you, no matter how you treated me.

Once I got used to that (and almost forgot about it, actually), you threw another curveball my way. I was told that you were going to see anyone over the age of 13. Anyone. What happened to the exclusivity? I felt like you were changing, yet I had stayed the same. I tried to break up with you then, but you lured me back. We had so many mutual friends, and you always managed to come up in conversations. How could I not stay away from you?

Then you began messing with your appearance. I originally loved your simplicity – that was the best part about you. But then you introduced applications and became cluttered. I began to get invitations to events that I would never, ever want to attend. And you began sharing my information. I had to ensure – constantly – that my security settings were always set on private rather than the default public options. I began to get tired of you.

And now, here we are. At the beginning of the year, you basically told me that you didn’t care about my feelings or security. You’re completely different from when I first met you – which is okay, because change is a part of life. But I can’t help but think that your defiance is just a knee-jerk reaction to the other cutie in the room, Twitter. And you’re going about it all wrong, Facebook. You were my first love. But of course I’m going to see Twitter. Why shouldn’t I? You so clearly don’t care about me.

So I’ve made the harsh decision of keeping some of my private information from you. I first went up to my “Settings” tab, located at the top right hand side of my screen:

I then hit the “Privacy” section, which is the second to the last selection on the Settings page:

From there, I first clicked on “Profile Information”:

And there I was able to select who could see what about me. I changed the default settings from “Everyone” to “Only Friends.”

Sadly, I couldn’t stop there. I had to go back and go to “Contact Information” and repeat the same exercise, changing it so that not “Everyone” can see how to contact me. (I actually usually recommend that people keep SOME information public, but considering how accessible I am online, I keep my Facebook fairly private.)

Then, I had to go back AGAIN and click “Applications and Websites.” There, I had to select what my friends could share about me – because even if I choose not to have my information shared with everyone, that doesn’t mean that my friends feel the same way:

Facebook, I didn’t want to have to do this, but it’s done. And I’m very happy with Twitter and LinkedIn. But I do miss the way things were, and I dream about the way things could be once again if you take some time to go back to your roots. But until things change, I feel like it’s important for people to be aware of your thoughts on our privacy, how they have changed over the years, and what they can do to protect their privacy and security if they so desire.

Because now? You’ve set yourself up to become another MySpace. All it’s going to take is another college student with too much free time and a predilection for privacy, and Facebook could easily be a thing of the past.

Much love,

Carly

Was my letter too harsh? Completely off the mark? Do you agree with Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg when he says that people don’t care about privacy anymore? And how do you protect your privacy online? Let me know in the comments!

]]> http://www.oneillcommunications.com/2010/01/openlettertofacebook/feed/ 0 http://www.oneillcommunications.com/2010/01/criticizing-copy/ http://www.oneillcommunications.com/2010/01/criticizing-copy/#comments Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:04:33 +0000 Carly http://oneillcommunications.com/?p=1787 I can be a very narcissistic person, so it’s difficult for me to accept and utilize criticism – however, as a writer, I know constructive criticism and honest feedback of my work will only help my writing become stronger.

I also find it difficult to critique other people’s work at times, but I realize that they are probably just like me and want to strengthen their writing as well.

After the break, learn what steps I use to critique various writing projects.

1. Take care of spelling and grammatical errors. These stand out to me and can be very distracting, so I always go through writing projects once and just focus on those so I can then move on to bigger issues.
2. Ask yourself whether or not the piece fits the purpose. For example, if I’m writing for a small newspaper advertisement and my copy is three pages long, there is an issue.
3. Make sure the copy fits the brand. Some businesses and brands take on a more serious tone while others are a bit cheeky. Tone is important.
4. Be specific. Writing “awkward” or “too wordy” is not enough. I am very guilty of doing this, but this doesn’t help the writer and can be confusing. If a sentence is “awkward,” explain why. If a sentence is “too wordy” circle what you feel are the unnecessary words.
5. Have a reason for your critiques. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people critique my work and simply say, “I changed this because I like it better this way.” This doesn’t tell me why, other than the person reviewing my work and I have two different styles. Perhaps you’re using more active wording or have shortened the length so the message comes across much more quickly.
6. Make sure you actually read. I’m very guilty of skimming and scanning, but even if you feel like you’ve read a piece two or three times, make sure you go through once to make sure you have caught everything.
7. Make sure nothing is missing. For example, if you’re critiquing copy for an email, make sure a subject line and headline are included. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in writing body copy that I can forget another aspect of the project. It’s human nature to make mistakes – but that’s why there is a review process.
8. And read it again. Just one more time.
   

As a writer, I can say it’s very helpful to come up with a group of core people that you trust and know will provide honest feedback. You don’t necessarily need to correspond with them outside of writing or to even like them that much – but you need to trust and respect them enough to provide honest, helpful feedback.

What advice do you have for someone who is critiquing copy?

1. Motorola’s Backflip Android Device – While I would almost place any betting money on the iPhone winning the smart phone wars, I do look forward to seeing more competition in this arena. I think we’ll see several strong contenders in 2010, including the recently released Nexus One.
2. 3D TV – In my heart, I’m nothing more than a couch potato. I even ended up buying myself a Snuggie recently. My ideal Friday night is pizza and a marathon of Cheaters. (That show is hilarious.) So yeah, I’m really excited about 3D TV. Granted, the idea has been around for some time, but considering how many new models are being showcased at CES, it’s shaping up to become much more mainstream.
3. This see-through laptop – Samsung created a laptop with no special features other than a transparent screen. Huh? I don’t understand why you would want one of these … but it looks really cool and can also lead the way to new, more relevant technologies.
4. This Android-powered smartbook – I just think this is cool.

And, of course, I am looking forward to all things Apple.

Any new gadgets being unveiled at CES 2010 that you’re looking forward to seeing?

These gifts are a copywriter’s/marketing professional’s/blogger’s/geeky girl’s dream … so what are you waiting for? Click the link and find out what I want for Christmas.

1. A Nexus One. The rumors that Google has been developing a phone have been circulating for years, but it’s finally been confirmed and the phone is expected to be on sale in January 2010.
2. This ‘Fail Whale’ necklace. The ‘Fail Whale’ is genius, although I’d much rather see him glittering around my neck than on my screen when I’m trying to tweet.
3. A MacBook Pro. With Final Cut Express and Aperture installed, please and thank you.
4. A Canon Rebel. All the cool bloggers have one.
5. These cool holiday backgrounds for my desktop. (Ha! These are free, and Chantelle designed them. Be sure to download one to get into the holiday spirit!)

I’d also settle for Facebook to care about my security, for AT&T letting my iPhone using friends actually use their iPhones, and for Twitter to actually work for longer than 48 consecutive hours.

You can mail any of the above to 1000 Parkwood Circle, Ste. 360, Atlanta, GA 30339. Please mail to the attention of Carly Sharec so that there is no confusion.

Everyone have a great (and safe) holiday season!

Tell me, what do you want this year?