Yellow Blog Journalism

On Social Media: How to Start (I)

The Power of Being a Regular Guy

Over the last 12 hours I have had an interesting exchange with one of the largest companies in the world. A few weeks ago, I talked to a billionaire via direct message. I've exchanged messages with authors of books that I've been reading and also hundreds of people like me with no Ivy League degrees on the wall, special credentials or spectacular talents that put us in the limelight of the national or even world stage. I'm not Tila Tequila, and neither are you. And that is okay. (Truth be told, its probably something to thank God in Heaven for)

I'm a regular guy. I make an average salary, have an average family, and have an average education. A few years ago this would have guaranteed that my circle of influence would be limited roughly to people that fell within physical, financial, & educational social circles. But that was before "Web 2.0" became the millionth word in the English language and the explosion of social media. According to Marta Kargan¹ 75% of Americans consume social media. The bulk of that 75% is people who share my title of "Regular Guy". People who, as George Bailey pointed out², do most of the living and dying. We also read most of the books, go on most of the vacations, buy the most pizzas, mow the most lawns and move most of the money, or, at least, our kids do.

It used to take staffing a call center with employees, setting up huge PBX systems to handle the phone traffic and buying hundreds of those headsets from the old AT&T commercials for a company to even be able to hear back from their customers in any meaningful way than over a cash register. There were a few effective ways to talk to the customers, but no real methods of holding a conversation. Now instead of a pulpit, companies, authors and billionaires alike pull up a bar stool next to the regular guy and have a chance to listen as well.

And the smart ones do.

Its an exercise in egalitarianism.

So How Do I Start?
There are literally hundreds of platforms that can connect you into this ubiquitous beast that is "Social Media" so the question of where to start is a good one. You can Plurk, Twit, Facebook, Digg, and Stumble to your hearts content. Really, unless you are getting paid by Doritos to maintain their online presence--which no longer means to just build them a website and fix bugs--you aren't going to be using a dozen platforms to engage the world. I use three. There is my blog, Yellow Blog Journalism, my facebook page and most importantly (to me) my twitter account, @TMason47.

If you want to make a good beginning, pick two or three platforms and devote yourself to them. Twitter is simple easy and has very few barriers to entry. Each "tweet" (the individual messages that you send through twitter) is only 140 characters at most, so you don't have to invest much time crafting your entries. It reminds me of Father Patrick's 3 B's; Be Bold, Be Brilliant, Be Gone.

The set up for twitter is easy, fast, and best of all, free. So lets get started. The first thing you are going to need is an email address and an account in that order. Usernames should be easy to remember and nothing that you wouldn't want a future employer/spouse/child to see, because people will find you. Stay away from @BeefCake97 or @LegalizeDrugzNow. Trust me. My personal Username is my first initial, last name and soccer number. @TMason47. Usernames on Twitter are identifiable because they are led by an @sign, for example @Beefcake97.

Next, go to Settings. Here you can put in some basic values about yourself. Name, website, time zone and whether or not you like meatloaf (@loswhit / @whittakerwoman). At the top of this page are a series of tabs. The next tab lets you set and reset your password. The devices tab connects your twitter account to the text messaging function on your cellphone. This is useful, especially later when you get a few followers, friends and compatriots that you can interact with. Notices controls hat messages get sent to your email account and when. Picture sets your personal icon, mine is the Penny_Arcade version of Mega Man. Make this one classy, because people will usually recognize your picture before your username. Design lets you change your background theme or lets you upload your own. Finally the Connections tab lets you connect with other applications such as Twibes and Tweetbar for your browser. We'll hit this in a future article. Its outside the scope of this article.

Now you are ready to tweet. Hit the home link at the top of the page, and look for the box that asks "What are you doing?". You have 140 characters to tell the world anything and everything about yourself. And some do tell anything and everything. Don't be that guy. Be honest, be witty and be discrete.  Hit send and you have just joined the 75% of America (or 66% of the global population if you want to think big) that participates in social media.

Is That Really All There Is To It?
No. Truth be told there is alot more to it than just signing up, signing in and telling us about your dog. Every community--and make no mistake about it, twitter is a community--has its own language, customs and traditions.

Can I use Abbreviations?
Because of the brevity required, txt speak is more widely accepted than it would be on a traditional blogging platform. "U R" instead of "You are" is usually the domain of high schoolers and college freshmen, but on twitter, it is often a necessity. Just don't abuse it. 

What does RT mean?
If you see RT in front of a tweet, it is called a Re-Tweet. This is a way to give credit and attention to good points and popular tweets.

How do I message people?
There are two ways to message other users, one public, the other private. To talk to them publicly simply type in their user name (@Beefcake97) and your message. "@BeefCake97 Did you really pick that username or did you lose a bet?" or if you want to do this privately, you can direct message by using DM Username Message. However when using the Direct Message feature, be sure to leave off the @ sign. Remember that anything that you type in the box counts against the 140 character limit.

How can I see who messaged me?
On the sidebar, under the Home link you will see your username as a link: @Beefcake97. Click on that link and you can see all the people who messaged you publicly. This shows up in their timeline as a tweet. The next line down is the link for direct messages. Like we said before, these are private and will not show up in anyones timeline.

What are all these TinyURL and BitLy links that I see?
Because of the 140 character limit, it pays to use a URL shortener to cut down the size of all those web addresses. Check out http://TinyURL.com.

What is the meaning of it all?
You find out once you hit 42 tweets.

1. http://blendingthemix.com/2009/07/23/what-the-fck-is-social-media-one-year-on/
2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/quotes

On UPS and Social Media

A few weeks ago I ordered some (about 27) books, a cellphone, a cellphone case, 3 movies, a dozen protective covers for my cellphone and a little "sumthin sumthin" for my honey. Most of those Items came by way of UPS an the ones that didn't come via brown, I wish that they did. This is because my route has an especially good package car driver. I don't know his name, but I can tell you that on July 17th at 2:08 PM Eastern time I tweeted the following:

@UPS is here!! The driver of truck 137911 is great and should get a raise. #WhatBrownCanDoForMe

I hope that you saw the message, and also that you found the driver, shook his hand and said "Good Job". (Rewarding him handsomly is aother good option) If you didn't you missed a chance to thank a good employee. If you did, you missed a chance to let your customers know that their feedback is recieved, and, even more importantly, heard.

Also, brand protection: Why does a UPS store, a franchise, have @UPS on twitter?

If you are looking for a great slideshow on the power of Social Media sites like Twitter and facebook, I suggest: What the F**k is Social Media. I came across it via @MichaelHyatt , the CEO of Thomas Nelson Books (publisher of several of those 27 books that I ordered in the last 2 months) and daily twitterer.

Also, you may enjoy this article on the dangers of social media involving your competitor.

On the Deformation of Healthcare

In case you wanted to know what the organizational structure of Heath care would look like under Scarry Barry, here is a quick and simple flow chart. From there, it all gets complicated. (click for full size)


HT:BR

On Tim Conway and Julia Child

I was sitting in the living room earlier when a commercial for the new blog inspired Julia Child Movie came on the television. Jenn, being the author of amazing talent that she is vented a bit of her frustration that someone would get a book deal and option a movie with an idea like that. For my part, my wheels were turning and I was looking for the guy equivalent of Julie & Julia. After a few miscues I think I hit on a blog-worthy idea; Tim on Tim: A Survey of the Comprehensive Tim Conway Filmography.

It turns out that Tim Conway has done quite a bit more than Dorf.

I'm looking for traction lately, not only here on this blog, but in life in general. I'm struggling in a lot of different areas and sometimes I feel like I need a way to focus... something to distract from what hurts and concentrate my attention and do extremely well, but gimmicks rarely work in the long term. There is a fine line between passion for something and an insane pursuit. Watching the entire Tim Conway catalog would border on insanity. working 120 hour weeks would border on insanity. Drinking my self into oblivion to find a moment of peace would go beyond insanity.

Passion is useful, insanity only leads to chaos. It is the difference between cooking with Julia Child and Checking out to Dorf on Golf vol. 3.

I need more than a gimmick to pull me through this next year. I'm going to need something substantial, and it is going to have to come from within. I've got more soul work to do. Maybe more time in the ashes to come, but at least I can avoid the pain of The Billion Dollar Hobo.

On Flying

On Redjusting to Life

I've just finished my third 24 in the last week, completing the orientation for the new Big Daddy EMS. and that combined to starting a new quarter in school and the classroom component of this orienteering has made for a pretty tired (action)geek. The entire orientation went very well. I have slipped back into my old "self" in a couple of encouraging ways. I feel very good about both my company and my skills. This quarter is going to expand both skill and knowledge in the field and probably radically change the caliber of care that I can offer my patients.

The major difficulties that I have had in the last few days have been getting my body back in the swing of a 24 hour shift with interrupted sleep being the norm and meals taken as they can be found. quickly, cold and almost never off of a plate. Also not seeing my family daily has had a noticeable impact not only on me, but on Jenn and Jack as well. This is a new stress that I'm placing on my marriage and family, one that will get us through school and onto the next phase of our lives and my career in nursing.

School is entering the first of my two most challenging quarters. If I can make it through to Christmas, I'm golden. The pace is furious and the information complex. I already feel a bit behind, but a good bit of studying in the margins at work and  regular study time on my off days will go a long way toward keeping me afloat.

Life is changing alot these days, and while I am going to have a bit more concentrated off time as the result of working 24 hour shifts, for the next 6 months quite a few  of my evenings will be spent with my nose in a book. Christmas is my next goal. Make it to Christmas, survive and thrive. If I can pass well, I might pick up a game system or something to reward myself with.

On Long Shifts

I'm told that today was a pretty atypical sunday for Big Daddy Ems. plenty of trauma, a few respitory calls, a touch of the "dude, I'm bored. Let's call 911". There was even a guy in the back of a cop car after being tazed. I doubt that he said the classic "don't taze me, bro". But I can dream.

Things settled down and I was able to get three consecutive hours of rack time after midnight. Three hours is about long enough to have a trippy dream about lockers (?) That I would spend the balance of my 5am DIB call wondering about.

Right now I'm in a good place. I'm just recently back on the truck, well, a truck owned by a company in the business of pt care, and I can handle this very well. But I remember when I was working far too often (96-120 hour weeks) in zones that would reliably produce 15-18 calls a shift. I exhausted myself and in doing so, I did no favors for my patients. And despite the high hour count this week, +90, I'm rarely if ever going to see the ugly side of 76 hrs again. There is just too much on my plate right now. Family and school will save me from my old "oholism", work.

 But the newness of this job will eventually rub off and I'm going to need more patience on nights like tonight where you walk into a house filled with cigarette smoke and the patient can't fathom why they can't breathe. God, teach me patience.

Hopefully as the next year of school wears on and in some cases wears out, I'll be able to keep my eye on patient care as its own value, something to be done well for the sake of doing it well. A good lesson to learn before getting into ems would be that even the jerks deserve a shot. Easy to forget when the jerk is on your stretcher and just being themselves. At 4am. And they are the 14th call. And dispatch is pushing you because they have a few more holding.

Some nights are like that. And some days the milk man and carpenter and executive have bad days too. 

On Refining Skills

Its been a tough lesson to learn in the last few months that it is easier to maintain skill and knowledge than it is to try and replace it once time and disuse have taken their toll. The theory is that the subjects and skills least used should be the most often refreshed, but the tendency is to focus on the things that you use the most.

I don't think that cpr should require refreshment quite as often as we do it. I've used the heck out of my cpr cert and I try and being an instructor, I've never met a medic that really needed more information than an update on the latest numbers; we're now @ 30-2 for 2 rescuer adult cpr. Most people who have a card will look at that last sentence, nod their heads and do good cpr. For those who don't do good cpr, we should be less shy about reccomending re mediation.

When I study I like to take a lot of quizzes. Quiz banks are helpful because they give you bench marks. You figure out very quickly what you know and what you don't know. Focus on what you don't know. I do very well with high yield studying. It is the basis of many of these professional test prep program.

Focus on your most weakly reinforced areas.

The other day I was given an opportunity to put my hands on every piece of equipment on my truck. The question that the training director asked first was which equipment was new to me. I've never had any contact with a king airway until now. When I first stared out in EMS in 2002the king was largely unknown if it existed at all. I was trained on comb i-tubes and ET tubes as primary airway devices (though I now question the wisdom of the "8 intubate" crowd) so I focused on building familiarity with this new adjunct. I'll hit the lab again every few weeks to focus on proficiency, for this and other skills.

The second question that was asked of me was which items have I not used recently. I needed to brush up on a lot of my secondary splinting devices. Localized trauma requiring more splinting than a frac pack is less frequent than the more generalized multi-system trauma. For a shotgun blast of splinting, a frac pack and long back board can take you a long way. More involved secondary devices, the traction splints especially as well as the KED, tend to gather dust being brought out only slight more often the. MAST trousers and the ever present sandbag. I was able to retrain on these devices without having to sacrifice my pride.

My goal for the next year is to begin going through each device and skill that I could possibly employ and brush up. Its been far too long for some of these, and I'd hate to be ill equipped to handle a situation, but honestly I've let too much knowledge and skill atrophy to approach this with the type of confidence that I would like to. While I'm still competent, I'm taking aim at greater proficiency.

On Being Ready

Now that I am once again working 24 hour shifts on the ambulance, I need to put a bag together that can act as an insurance policy against mishaps, faux pas, coincidence and "enemy action" (i.e. the uncomfortable results of a prank gone wrong).

I used to have a bag that filled this role ... kind of. It was essentially a gym bag that I kept a couple of changes of clothes in so that I would always have something to step into after work, should I so desire. The bag that I want to put together this time will fill a slightly different role. I want to be prepared for most of the situations that can be lived with for a regular 8-12 hour shift, but that can make a 24 hour shift miserable.

 There are the obvious items. Every bag should always have the change of socks, underwear and undershirt. Extra shoe strings for my boots would also make the list. A spare charger for the blackberry, since I have acquired several of these, I should keep one handy whenever possible. But I'm thinking about the nontraditional items.

Sham Wow.

Any suggestions for the bag while I am putting together my shopping list? It needs to fit in a small gym bag, and be something that can alleviate several problems. Size, versatility and cost effectiveness are hallmarks of the items that will be going in this bag.

Hit me in the comments with some ideas. 

On Living to 105

 I've had this weird fascination for a while now, living to 105. And while it may be that I really don't like the idea of dying, longevity is really only part of the point. I want to live a long, good life. I've seen tons of people who live (seemingly)forever, but do it at the end of a tube. I don't want that.  I want to be like the lady that I used to transport on occasion who lived by herself, independent, until she died at 104.

Of course, I think I decided that I want to live to be 105 because I don't want to lose to some little old lady.

I'm getting ready to cross the line of 30 years in about 6 weeks. I can't wait. I see things geting better as time goes by. Before I'm 35 I'll have finished school, my son will be old enough to hold a conversation and my wife and I will have started buying our home. I'd also like to be looking at adopting a child/some children at this point as well.  Life is a thing that grows.

In 25 years, I'd like to be getting ready to start a business that I can "retire" with (because we both know that I'll never really retire), and  watch my children begin to start their own lives. I want to go places with my wife, maybe Thailand for a few months, because we can. And Grandchildren would be great fun as well.

That would be a good half way point.