Like I have a plan! But here’s my thought process on social media.

• We need to be where our readers are, and where they will be in 20 years. This means Twitter, Facebook and Flickr today. Could mean something totally different tomorrow.
• Twitter is personal. Editors each Tweet under their own accounts, and it’s the editor’s chance to chat with readers and promote whatever they like.
• Facebook is more promotional for the magazine, but we also link to outside content. We use RSS here, so our news feed appears on our Facebook page. There’s a chance here to have our readers get to know us. Something I’ve been meaning to do is take pictures of editors at their desks so readers can get a behind-the-scenes look at us.
• Our Ning site belongs to our readers. I don’t want to see too many posts from our editors here. I wouldn’t frequent a forum where the editors are doing all the talking. We generate conversation when there’s a serious lull, but it’s not about promoting ourselves.
• Flickr and YouTube are the hard sell right now. I’m not getting across the message that the communities around these sites are important to tap into. We pretty much have the attitude that we should keep images and video on our own URLs to drive traffic. I don’t disagree, but I think we’re missing out on an opportunity with these sites. I put photos up on Flickr myself, but it’s not a priority.
• I have a Delicious account, but I mostly use it for personal stuff. I’ve been thinking about starting an account for our magazine brand, but I’m still thinking.

Past this, I don’t have much of a plan. It seems that of all these, I need a better plan for our Ning site. It is the most marketable to advertisers. We have quite a few members, but they could be chatting a little more frequently. So how do I do that?

Before you go, look at this presentation. It’s  awesome.

- Been using since June 14, 2008, thru WhenDidYouJoinTwitter.com.

- 127 updates. I thought that number would be higher.

- 196 followers. I’m surprised it’s that many.

- We’ve had 392 visits to our magazine sites that originated from Twitter.

Just today I received a story lead through Twitter. I’ve followed public opinion on our industry through Twitter. So I’m going to keep it. I think we’ve only scratched the surface on what Twitter can do for us, and I predict I’ll have twice the followers by this time next year. And they’ll be quality followers.

And these are the tools that will help me do an even better job in my second year.

• Twibes.com. Great for following events and our industry in general.
• BackTweets. See who’s blogging about a URL, including yours.
• Bit.ly. URL shortener that also tracks how many people click.
• Twitter Feed. Send your blog posts directly to Twitter automatically.
• TwitPic. Send camera phone photos to your feed. I’d use yfrog if I had an iPhone.
• WhatTheTrend? Find out what’s trending and why.
• TweetDeck. Keep it up all the time and you’re on top of Twitter all the time.
• Help A Reporter Out. This guy links reporters with sources. I just found this, so we’ll see  how good it is.
• TweetStats. See how much work you’re doing on Twitter.

I’d also like to point out Angela Maiers’ 70-20-10 Twitter Engagement Forumula. I think this is a great guideline for us. Found at the Blog of Mr. Tweet.

70% of your tweets should share resources- sharing others’ voices, opinions, quotes, blog posts, articles, content and resources

20% of your tweets should engage in conversations with others, responding, connecting, collaborating and connecting with others.

10% of your tweets can be chirping, chitchat as Angela calls it, on trivial details or self-promotion.

I’ve always felt that it’s caveat emptor with blogs, but I can see the point. I like a nice separation of church and state, although the Internet has bent if not broken a lot of those rules.

If you set yourself up to look like a news source and you’re really just a PR service, the reader should be told what’s really going on. But are we not giving the reader enough credit? Can the average reader tell the difference between a paid blog and a legit one?

Poynter asks if this may amount to “rattling the saber at blogs and social media” by the FTC, but it’s definitely exciting to see web reporting legitimized by the investigation. The FTC is basically saying there’s good blogging going on out there, and it should be differentiated from unethical reporting.

So how are you using Twitter for work? I searched Twitter for the word “magazine,” and here’s some of what I found. Vermont Business Magazine has tweets that seem to link to news stories on its site. No chit chat. Just the facts. So here, Twitter seems to serve as an RSS feed for site content.

Punchline Magazine has a Twitter account that’s a lot more chatty, like a personal Twitter. It also links back to site content, including video interviews. Punchline has 75 followers on Twitter, and the interaction with the editor(s) is really good. Having a lot of loyal followers who like to talk seem to make or break a magazine’s Twitter. Otherwise, you’re just talking to yourself. Only thing – who’s tweets are these? What’s your name, Punchline tweeter?

I thought this was really cool – Craft magazine uses Twitter as a repository for How To tips. This seems perfect for Twitter. I get a quick list of story headlines (HOW TO – Recycle Old Crayons) delivered to me, and I decide which are interesting enough to click. And these aren’t all full-blown articles. Some are quick blog posts.

Are you using a Twitter feed on your site or linking to a magazine Twitter page? What’s the theory behind yours? Letting readers get to know you a little better? Promote good content? Just messing around?

Doesn’t happen. So what do you ask to really get the good stuff? I just heard a good one — What two or three things about your business really keep you up at night? What’s your favorite interview question?

No matter what the AP Stylebook says, there are people out there who think “whom” is a made up word. Like Creed on The Office (after an ad, gotta pay the bills).

ROP pages are down, everybody knows it. At my company, it feels like we’re finally satisfied that this isn’t just a “market fluctuation” and new types of ad programs are being formulated. Great! Maybe.

I thought these packages would focus on the Web and Internet projects — cool ways to get more information and more types of information to more people. It’s not going that way, though. We’re entering the golden age of the advertorial. Barf. The days of separation of church and state are gone.

So, dear reader, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much does your company follow the ASBPE Code of Ethics or similar? There has to be a way for my magazine to make money and for me to keep my ethics.

Personally, and I hope my opinion does change someday, I’m not too hot for video. We’re having enough trouble meeting quotas for copy. I don’t think readers want to tune in to hear me drone on about something just to meet some Web standard. Plus, I don’t want to be on camera.

Sure, we could interview people/readers for our Web video, but our company isn’t set up with the budget, personnel or training for this type of work.

And I don’t watch too much online video, anyway. I find video players have compatibility issues about 60 percent of the time. I’d much rather just read than have to watch. Unless it’s the talking baby commercial from Super Bowl Sunday.

“Oh really? What magazine?”

“It’s a trade magazine called …” I’ve already lost my audience. How about a little respect? My job is important, after all! Over the holidays, for the first time ever another person asked me for career advice. She’s 28, studied art in Europe for years and is now looking for a job — writing. From the look on her face, you’d think I killed her puppy when I told her the best game in town is the trade press (OK, so this isn’t exactly New York).

And this week, the scariest prospect of all is upon me: career day. So to prepare myself, I’ve composed the top 10 reasons trade press is awesome:

10. No math. Well, some math. But no math for math’s sake.

9. Free coffee. Maybe this isn’t an exclusive to the trade press, but it’s good.

8. Free travel. I’ve seen so much stuff I never would have without the trade press.

7. Free swag. Pens, notepads, coffee cups, t-shirts and the occasional gym bag.

6. Monthly deadlines. Or weekly. Better than daily. Which reminds me …

5. No city council meetings. No explanation necessary.

4. Fame beyond your wildest dreams. In the industry, anyway. I’m a semi-celebrity. Especially during the aforementioned travel.

3. Stet. Does the average person know what it means? No. Do I? Yes. It’s like a secret society.

2. Being around other people who laugh at bad grammar, too. And who also have an addiction to good pens. See #7.

1. Full-time writing job. You can’t really argue about this one. It is pretty nice to be making money for putting pen to paper

And there are millions, millions more reasons.

Movie critics, who do nothing but watch and rate movies all day, can’t even predict what will happen with Oscar nominations. How am I to know what kinds of articles trade press judges are going to like? Without knowing an industry, how can you judge how valuable new information is to an audience? And the comparison between industries seems a little apples to oranges to me.

What wins? Humor? Levity? Hard-hitting news? Analysis? I still haven’t figured it out. I have to win something sooner or later. Anyone have any advice for me? My ego is aching.