Write Techie

January 31, 2012

Is Generation Y Not Taking Social Media Seriously?

I read an interesting article, “Generation Y’s career Facebook Fumble,” which I feel tells half the story and not the whole story about my generation’s tangled history with social media. Keep in mind that Generation Y created today’s social networking and it flourished from there.

First is first, let me lay down the groundwork for my thoughts on the current state of social media:

Facebook is a playful social network
LinkedIn is the professional networking site
Twitter is the established quick and short messaging site
Google+ is emerging as a new player in the field of social media
MySpace is in the digital graveyard along with other less prominent social networking sites

Facebook – the playful network

Facebook is the social playground

Historically, Facebook was an exclusive club designed only for college students. It was when the company began opening its network up to allow major corporations and geographic regions to join, the problems started becoming mainstream. I will admit, college students freely expressed themselves on the site and it was more of a status symbol by networking with the most friends, posting on various groups, and having photos of yourself after those so-called social gatherings. Problems on Facebook constantly plagued students and college administrators. When Facebook opened up to the public, it was a huge social experiment and train wreck at the same time. Suddenly the popularity of Facebook made it possible for everyone to connect with each other and may inadvertently caused some generational clashes–mostly between mom/dad vs. son/daughter. Parents would often want to check up on their kids and sometimes it got ugly.

Notably, the issues began when people discovered inappropriate photos and inappropriate postings on Facebook and it happened to be reported on the news. It still happens todoay, but not as much as it used to. We have learned how to manage our social media much better than the heyday.

Linking professionals with LinkedIn

Now I want to switch gears and talk about LinkedIn. It is a social networking site intended to showcase one’s own career goals, resume, and accomplishments. This place is excellent for showcasing the world our professional lives. In the past year, I have received more LinkedIn connection requests from my colleagues in college than I have before. Since joining the site in 2008, I added over a dozen of my college friends who are seeking professional employment because they care about their professional life and wish to be associated with other successful peers on this social networking site. There are many benefits by using LinkedIn, such as

requesting letters of recommendations
associating with professional groups
listing accomplishments and goals
showcasing major projects
participating in professional discussions
seeking new employment opportunities

LinkedIn is essentially a social network built around a professional resume.

Social Media Study

Cited in the article is the Gen Y and Facebook Study, conducted by Millennial Branding, which reveals some interesting characteristics that should be highlighted as important aspects of the newest generation joining the professional world. It shows that Generation Y is looking to enter into the professional workforce and have been eager to jump onboard than before. The demographics in the study, 18-29, show that there are many college graduates lumped in seeking professional work, which is great news.

In the study, not mentioned in the news article, the Gen Y population demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit. That finding suggests that this particular generation seeks ways to build services and products on their own rather than work for a company. The study also mentions that nearly 2/3 of the surveyed group avoid disclosing their employer on Facebook. This evidence supports the notion that Facebook is a social network intended for personal use among friends and family. However, the study reviewed data from Facebook. If the study showcased LinkedIn, it may paint a rather different picture of the state of professional social media for the Generation Y population.

Is Gen Y Taking Social Media Seriously?

Yes. And no. For those seeking professional careers, they are putting themselves out there through the use of blogs, social media, and websites. They are promoting themselves using every avenue possible. For example, I am on all the social networks, I write this blog, I also have a couple other websites out there. I am constantly networking with professionals on these networks and promoting myself. So far, it has produced successful results.

On the flip side, there are people who are not on professional networks and are missing out on employment opportunities. There is great potential to professionalize Generation Y through the use of Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. We simply need to find the right formula to demonstrate our seriousness in the workforce and show that we can play well in the big leagues too.

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January 22, 2012

Website Meltdown: Lessons Learned

Websites can meltdown...

As a technical communicator, I’m reflecting on my learning experience as much as possible. This is a potential venue that any technical communicator can capitalize upon because we sit in the middle between the creator and the consumer. We write about and use the product at the same time. Below is my crash-course lesson on moving a WordPress site to a new hosting company. It was not as daunting of a task as I thought it would be.

Over the last three days, my blog site experienced a meltdown with my previous hosting provider. This event forced me to move to a better hosting company. So far I am extremely satisfied with the move, except it was more complicated than I bargained for and a HUGE lesson learning how to migrate WordPress to a new host. Was it worth the move? Yes, I save $40 per year in annual hosting costs and have a faster-loading site.

Beware that moving a website like a WordPress blog is not an easy task if you don’t know the details regarding HTML, FTP, PHP, Apache Configuration, mySQL, Zone Files, A Records, and DNS. Thankfully the internet has instructions on fixing these issues that may arise as a result of trial and error.

Download and backup everything

First, I downloaded my entire site to my computer–images, directories, and files. Everything in the WordPress directory had to be downloaded. I also downloaded a backup copy of the mySQL database which WordPress operates from. These two items are what make up WordPress.

Upload

Next, I uploaded the WordPress directory to my new hosting company. Also, I had to create a new database on my new host and import the data from the existing database I downloaded. These tasks were relatively simple and rather trouble-free.

Edit certain files

Then came the tricky and ridiculous tasks. When I uploaded my database, I had to update certain files and redirect where my new database was. This change somewhat caused confusion and initially broke the site. At least there was a way to figure out how to resolve these issues. WordPress.org helps users with their guide to Moving WordPress to a New Server.

Domain Name Resolution

DNS changes caused the site to go down.

It usually takes 24+ hours for domain updates to completely be resolved. Normally hosting companies manage domains, but I keep domain management separately with different company so I have more control over how my domains work. When I updated my domain name to point to my new hosting server, it did not completely work. There was an error when I changed the IP address of the server and both www.writetechie.com and writetechie.com. Each of those addresses are different and should point to the same IP address, but they did not. Both sites were going to the wrong place and causing havoc on the site.

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned a bit from moving sites and now I’m ready to move WordPress installations in the future without worry.

WordPress and hosting sites are fickle creatures
Hosting companies are rather helpful with their knowledge bases
Documentation found on the internet resolved configuration issues
Patience is extremely important–someone probably has gone through this before
Sheer joy once everything works the way it was–and faster too!

Avoid Website Meltdowns.

If you have any tips please share them in the comments. If you need some help moving your WordPress blog, I am willing to lend a hand. My next site move should go much smoother from now on rather than the meltdown.

Note: I took these photos of reactors on my trips out to Pennsylvania and Illinois, respectively. My passenger plane safely flew over both of these structures. I just happen to have a point and snap digital camera with a decent zoom lens.

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January 16, 2012

New Article: Leveraging Talents, Skills, and Passion on TechWhirl

I have added another article about LavaCon 2011, this time a feature with Corey Ganser from MindTouch. Please check out, “Building the Business Case for Technical Communicators by Leveraging Talent, Skills and Passion”

This interview was co-authored with Connie Giordano, co-owner of TechWhirl. Corey shared his insight on how technical communicators should place themselves within a company and serve in many different roles, such as technical support, marketing, as well as documentation.

Take some time out of your busy day and read ”Building the Business Case for Technical Communicators by Leveraging Talent, Skills and Passion,” along with other coverage I have done for TechWhirl.

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Filed under LavaCon, TC, technology, web

December 30, 2011

Social Media Overload?

Are we at the point where we are constantly connected to new social media networks that we are slowly shunning these places due to a lack of interest? I had an interesting discussion with a good friend of mine, offline of course, in which we shared some feelings for why we are not posting as much as we used to. This list is not much of a surprise but a reflection of what is truly occurring. Is this a true phenomenon?

Are we overloaded with social media?

Reasons why we have social media fatigue

Too many social network sites to look at in a day or week
Lack of quality content posted online
Content is overwhelming or too much is being posted at once
Conflicts with friends and acquaintances

If there is social media fatigue, how can we mediate this issue? There are solutions that we can practice to alleviate the overload. The alternative is to shut down your computer and read a book. That alternative is not as feasible as we might think when this world is highly connected to the internet.

Solutions to alleviate social media fatigue

Consolidate to a handful of social networking sites
Organize your social feeds so you receive relevant information instead of junk
Use a program that organizes social media sites in one place
Post meaningful comments and updates that others appreciate

Ways to alleviate social media overload

While these solutions are general ideas, below are some examples of what I practice in order to avoid overloading my social media experience.

Automate my blog updates using Hootsuite and a Facebook Application to post on Twitter and Facebook.
Trim down my list of followers on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter so I see relevant information.
Unsubscribe from updates to be sent to via email and phone
Link WriteTechie RSS feeds and Twitter updates inside of LinkedIn.

There is no silver bullet to alleviate social media overload. With a few simple steps, we can clean up our online social life. It may not be possible to permanently avoid social media because it is becoming an integral part of how we communicate with the world. What we have to realize is if we are tired of social media, we need to find a method for how we can participate in a healthy and positive manner.

What are your tips and methods for reducing your social media overload?

If you are not overwhelmed by social media, find me online

Google+
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

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Filed under social, technology, web

December 18, 2011

Choosing a professional username

Last week I changed my Twitter username from @torridence to @RogerRenteria. I made the change as a result of the number of technical communication followers I have so far. I needed a username that reflects my professional use of Twitter. In this post, I wish to share my thoughts on usernames and why professionals should choose usernames wisely.

Usernames

We all know how “superawesomekid@exampledomain.com” made a certain person the most awesome kid down the block. We all know how old someone was by having the birth year appended to a username, such as “jsmith74@domain.org.” Lastly, we figured out that Stephanie was a legitimate person with a username that had no relation to her, such as “hector5k75@domainexample.net.”

Rant Free – the way it should be.

While keeping this post free of rants, I want to emphasize the necessity to select a clean professional-looking username if you plan to market yourself on social networking sites and correspond with potential employers or business partners. Keep in mind, I remember when the internet first became popular, it was important to obscure your identity from predators. While the internet is becoming more social and a place to find employment opportunities, having a clean username demonstrates how you want to project your professional image to the corporate world.

Clean Up Usernames

I have observed extremely nice usernames floating on the internet, such as utilizing all initials, first initial and last name, first name and last initial, or full first and last name. What I see are some great usernames in use, which inspired me to change my own Twitter username to something professional.

If Hemingway Had Twitter…

What would Hemingway choose for his Twitter username?

If Ernest Hemingway had access to the internet, he would have the opportunity to choose usernames that were clean. This influential author also had a middle name–Miller. From Ernest Miller Hemingway, I can suggest some usernames he could use for email and Twitter.

emh@author.book
EHemingway@oldman.sea
hemingway@author.book
@Hemingway
@ErnestH
@EMHemingway

These are only a few of the examples that Hemingway could use.

If some usernames are taken, try to add a period to it. I also understand that there are people who have usernames that have been in use for years–if not decades–and it may be difficult to change it because of how long they are associated with “swiftwriter99@somedomain.com.” It may be time to forward your email to a clean email address and gently notify people of the change. It may be very hard, but in the long-term it is not too late to start.