It is not surprising that the news of the "iPhone 4G" leak sent the technological and social media world into a spin. Was it real? How did it happen? I read the news and if it is the latest iPhone, okay, I'll just wait for it appear but that doesn't mean I am going to search information about it. Why you might ask?

There is never a week or at least a fortnight where I don't get asked by one of my Twitter friends: "Why don't you get an iPhone?"

Like most people, there isn't a day gone by where I go out and see about 1 in 5 people on the street with an iPhone. (That isn't a real statistic, but it is what I predict) Ironically enough, it doesn't make me want an iPhone any more than I already do; in fact it probably makes me NOT want one even more. This fact often confuses people.

For someone like me a fairly technology savvy person, who has presence on Social Media and has grown up pretty much immersed in technology, not wanting an iPhone. If you have seen me or know me, I have my trusty Nokia. It goes online; it takes photos, plays music, and does all the regular phone duties pretty well. My Nokia and I have been together for three good years now and it has survived and continues to serve. Albeit it is starting to slow down I do find it lagging, something that is to be expected from technology which ages faster than its real age. Despite all that, when I think of replacing it I don't immediately think of an iPhone.

After much debate about why I would NOT actively choose to have an iPhone, I was told maybe I should write about it - there might be someone who thinks the same way as me? Don't get me wrong here, if anyone was to give me one, or if I won one I would probably at least try it out, whether I would keep it I am not entirely sure.

So here is my list of my Top 5 Reasons as to why I would not personally buy an iPhone:

1. Size - Now many people would say it pretty compact for something that does a lot and I'd agree with that, BUT it’s exactly why I don't like to use it. I have small hands and I can't hold it safely in one hand and fear it will probably fall out of my hands... A LOT. 

For those who do have one, what happens when you drop it? Well you freak out; you pick it up and think to yourself "OMG, is it okay? Is it ALIVE?" And if it the screen is intact, it probably is.

Imagine this from my point of view. The iPhone is almost the length of my hand - how do I know this? Well aside from the fact that I know heaps of people who have one and can compare - I have an iPod Touch (2nd Gen) and with its cover it’s about the size of a regular iPhone, so it pretty 'chunky' to me. I have always been the type of person who liked a phone to fit in one hand so I could hold it, talk to someone and still look normal!

2. Price - This fact probably makes you laugh inside a little, I was just thinking about it and I laughed too. Don't get me wrong, I do believe you do pay for what you get, sort of. As I mentioned before I have an iPod Touch and I realised, it does everything an iPhone does on wireless except make phone calls, send texts and take photos (not that the camera on the iPhone is THAT amazing, that I know is true). And when I got it at the end of 2008, it was released in September, the same time the newest iPhone 3G came out. So I searched the specifications and back then (not sure about the comparison with 3rd Gen iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS) they were pretty similar. Yet there is this HUGE price gap for phone, text and camera capabilities?

Now this might be an Apple thing, just like their computers are significantly priced higher than most PC's, I would rather buy a computer with that money then a phone that I will probably drop enough to make me weep every hour! (I’m not called "Butter Fingers" for nothing!)

3. The App Store - Again you're probably reading that going ‘what's wrong with it?’ Nothing is wrong with it exactly, I access it heaps on my iPod Touch, but what it is the price thing again. After you pay over $1000+ for the iPhone, to get full capabilities of your phone you should be using applications. That's the whole point right? Unless you’re literally using it for ONLY texting, phone calls and surfing the web. This leaves you with a whole bunch of memory you have paid for, but not utilising.

And as an App Store user as much as you can download the "Lite" versions of all those cool applications (if there is any!) it’s just not the same as having the full version (now by this point, there is probably somebody reading this going - "Well you can just jail break it!", that is true, but I have never done this and I am trying to be legal).

So on top of the fact that you have just paid heaps for the iPhone, you also have to spend more to use it to its full capabilities. Yes the applications range in prices and you can opt to buy only the cheaper ones but it is very easy to become addicted, trust me I would know!

4.  iPhone Plans - Now I am sure this is something which most people probably can relate to a bit more than the rest of my reasons. I probably don't need to explain the plans much, but let’s just they're pretty average.

The least amount you pay is a base of $80 a month.  I pay a base of $40 a month, that's double! It’s almost like daylight robbery! And when you go up in the plans, they don't necessarily give you more options on contacting people, they give more data.

Okay, yes I accept it is a 'data-based' phone, but it is still a phone!!! It’s meant to call people, and if you don't have minutes you’re paying a rate (something I know, is the easiest way to rack up a HUGE bill).

What I want to know is why you can't build your own plan like "You Choose" so that you can add more minutes and texts. If you're like most people, you probably have wireless at home or in your office so you probably aren't using the data THAT much.

I was recently given 100MB of data for free on my plan to test it out over 3 months, and I find it hard to ever crack 10MB a month and I tweet and surf as much as my phone battery can survive. Yes, I am aware that going on a plan means I pay 'less' for an iPhone, but what happens if I want to stay on my current plan? I have to pay full price for the iPhone and to renew my contract, another thing that doesn't motivate me at all.

5.  Everybody has one! - You could argue, this is a silly reason. Actually I will agree with you, it IS a silly reason. But here is my justification: Everybody 'loves' the iPhone; it does so many things blah blah blah.

 As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, the statistics for walking down a street and finding somebody with an iPhone are pretty high and probably on the increase. Let’s just say, I don't want to be a statistic! When I picked out my phone 3 years ago, I looked for the phone which hadn't been released in New Zealand yet! It did eventually come out 6 months later but despite that I have only seen probably less than 30 people with the same phone as me.  Even better still, since I bought mine overseas, I got mine in red and it was only available in New Zealand in "mocha" and "black". I like the fact that I am different, it’s one of the things I pride myself in being and to buy an iPhone is like giving up my individuality.

Let us not forget, that just like every other Apple items, they get updated EVERY year without fail so far. How does it feel to have technology in your hand which becomes 'old' so quickly? Don't forget I am an Apple fan, I like the computers - but it does really suck, that you buy something and it doesn't stay 'new' for long.

Of course that is just me, don't take my word on it, it’s just my opinion. But what do you think, although the new iPhone will soon come out has this 'leak' made you want to know more?

Do you want to buy one now or wait till the next one is released?

I know I won't be, but that's just me.

What do you think?

Courtney @CourtneySit

Any Questions ? Email me at: courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

Yes, the title is true - I was locked out by Twitter.  Like many people on Twitter I have heard all those stories of friends or people they follow being locked out and left feeling a little confused, even some people having their accounts permanently locked for no apparent reason! Unless you've experienced it yourself, it is just one of those things you'll never quite understand. I'm not preaching, but it’s true!

So how did my experience start?  I have recently found myself using Twitter via the web off my computer more often, possibly because it’s simpler to use. There are no lists, you don’t have to worry about API and you can hit the “refresh” button as much as you like, nothing too complicated there. Of course when I’m away from the computer I will use my iPod to access Twitterrific and other applications.

Now let’s set the scene - On the day of my lock out I decided to give Tweetdeck another go. After many failed attempts to download the latest version I soon gave up and started using other applications such as DestroyTwitter and Seesmic for Windows. After finally downloading the latest version of Tweetdeck I was not at all surprised when it would NOT install, however I proceeded to try and log into my Twitter account anyway. I haven’t used Tweetdeck in a while so it still had my OLD login details stored up and began logging in with them only to have an error message pop up. When I realised this I changed them to my current login details only to have the same error message appear.

After that I gave up and reverted back to DestroyTwitter, the old faithful that I abandoned when my sister started logging in and I decided she could use it instead. I logged her out and tried to log myself in only to have that irritating error message pop up telling me my "login credentials did not match." I then gave logging in with Twitterrific a go and after several unsuccessful attempts I thought I'd return to the reliable Web only to be surprised with this message:

"Woops! Sorry, it seems you have tried to log in too many times with incorrect details"

What did this mean? Well I had been temporarily locked out of Twitter for no apparent reason - I didn't even KNOW this could happen! Of course, I will NOT get over dramatic, it was only for an hour - but the core message I had was "Why? What did I do?" Turns out I didn't do anything, it was because I can logged in using various API applications that weren't recognising the right details - evidently telling Twitter HQ I was a "fake" me.

Ironically enough, the message also said:

"Do not panic, your account will automatically unlock after the allotted time below"

Which was 60 minutes and what I did I do? I panicked, but why? When I realised it was only temporary, I thought it's only an hour, I'll survive. But of course the initial reaction was I freaked out thinking it was permanent, especially after recently hearing some horror stories of people losing their tweet counts, their followers, who they were following, their DM's etc.

What did this teach me? Don't use Tweetdeck ever again! No seriously, it did make me re-think about using API for a while and that even though you are logging in details from an 3rd Party program, they can still get it wrong!

Of course, if I get locked out again, I won't freak out as much - though if it was permanent, I might want to cry. Let's hope that never happens, ever!

Have you been locked out of Twitter before? Share your experiences on how it happened!

Let me know :)

Courtney @CourtneySit

courtneysit@socialmedianz.com

As you all may have read, I have written various posts on the significance of social networking accounts and what is really means to have high  amount of followers or subscribers or fans - of course this is a fairly business orientated approach. Then I have my posts which I write about the dynamics (or drama) that happens when it comes to "following and unfollowing" on Twitter and "friending or unfriending" on Facebook.

What it made me think of is acceptance, or in this case Social Media "Acceptance: As humans, it is a natural feeling to want to be accepted - even during those teenage angst years where you "don't care" what others think and even though you might say you don't care, you do at some point care if someone doesn't like you back (even if it is for a 5 seconds or so). It also made me think of when I was 5 and about to start my first day at school - I didn't really think about what I was about to learn at school, I might've hoped that my teacher was nice (and at primary school, that is almost guaranteed) but most of all, I hoped that I would make some friends.

I have realised is that the same applies in Social Media! Whether you're a business, a brand or just someone who uses social media for personal reasons - we all seek one thing, acceptance. We want to fit it, albeit just a little bit - we want to be talked about positively, we want people to listen to us, to talk to us, to be friends. Social = Search for Acceptance, the aspect of social in Social Media means that although you are online, probably protected by the confines of your current location or even the glass screen of your computer (or whatever you use) - you still search to be accepted by somebody or someone. That doesn't make us desperate or lonely people, it just makes us human.

How this brings me back to my post about "following and unfollowing" on Twitter is - recently, I have been unfollowed by those I considered "friends" and as I said in my previous post, when this first happened I was shocked, I wondered "what did I do wrong", "does it mean they don't like me anymore" all those thoughts which originally run through my head. Despite all of that, I realised that I myself continuously wanted acceptance from people that I thought I was friends with - sure I may have met them a couple of times, talked to them at Tweet-Ups, but were they really my friends? Maybe not, and that realistic approach made me remember that I don't have to be accepted by all.

In Social Media, it is definitely harder to determine what people think about you - its not exactly easy to describe yourself in 140 characters and that's the size of a tweet! But does it matter? Sure, if you are tweeting on behalf of a brand, it is important to know what people are saying about you - but not all brands apply to everybody, so there are going to be negative effects. You can take those and build on the brand to improve it. Not to take it too simplistically but the same applies to yourself on Twitter (less on Facebook, I only add friends there anyway), you can't be friends be friends with everybody - I struggle to keep track of my current amount of friends, so do I really really want to add to that amount? I like all my friends - but if someone decides to not be friends with you, who loses out? They do.

So have you ever lost a follower you thought was your friend, kicked up a huge fuss and now look back and wonder why you bothered in the first place?

Let me know, I'd like to share your experiences! :)

Courtney @CourtneySit

Following one of my posts discussing the slightly sensitive of "following or unfollowing" on Twitter - I have also been unfollowed by fellow people I considered 'friends'. Ironically enough, I had to read my own blog post to make myself feel better - just to remind myself that it is not THAT big of a deal, I don't have to feel hurt or worry about what I did to others to make them unfollow me, it was their decision to do so and it doesn't really affect me.

Now usually I don't really care who unfollowed me, often I didn't keep track or couldn't be bothered to check which one it was that unfollowed me - but I always figured if someone found me unrelevant, chances are they were no longer relevant to me (unless they never followed me back in the first place - which of course is a different thing). After observing my feed someone mentioned that to find out who have unfollowed you, you should follow @mrunfollowr. So how does it work? When you follow this account, and someone unfollows you - they will send you a DM of the list of the people who have recently unfollowed you. I have found that it is regular, it constantly updates and one key thing is knowing the difference between real and fake followers or those which have been suspended.

Now, this might seem a bit pedantic, generally I just look at the list - see if its anyone I do and about 90% of the time, they're just a bunch of random people I didn't follow back or just someone who I didn't even realise started following me in the first place.

However, just to backtrack slightly - I will say that as much as they did unfollow me on Twitter, they didn't "unfriend" me Facebook, and somehow that is much more offensive. I think its the connotations we have with Facebook in comparison to Twitter: i.e. Add as a Friend vs. Follow. Do you find that it has a different feel to the word? Do you get more offended if people unfollow you Twitter or if they unfriend you on Facebook? For me its the latter, I guess personally - Facebook is more for friends you already have, ones you want to reconnect with. Whereas as Twitter is for searching for relevant information, ways to expand your connections and to also make new friends.

Let me know if you agree or disagree - I'd like to know

Courtney @CourtneySit

Following my post about "The Taste of Yellow Campaign", I got a few interesting responses from people - on here and on Twitter, both good and bad. Most respondents agreed that the Social Media aspect of the campaign was pretty weak, or a half attempt at best. And now that the campaign is technically 'over' I still haven't felt the inclination to follow YellowPages on Twitter, use YellowPages more or tell businesses to ensure that their adverts are in the book (before it closes).

One very interesting tweet response I received after my post was published was "Haven't you seen the Facebook Fanpage for the Taste of Yellow campaign? It has over 14,000 fans" - well I did mention in my post that I hadn't checked it out because I felt the campaign hadn't engaged me enough to go check it out on Facebook or Twitter or in any form online. But what interested me about this tweet was that it suggested that suddenly just because a brand or company has a Facebook Fan Page with a large number of 'fans' suddenly the campaign is suddenly considered successful. Of course I promptly responded with asking this question: "How many times have you clicked 'become a fan' for a page? And then how many times have you re-visited the page since becoming a fan?"

Recently, I went through a spring clean of my Facebook profile. I removed half the number of pages I had become a fan of because - I was simply a sick of the numerous DAILY updates I was getting - I hardly ever read them and realised that there were only a few, a very select few which I re-visited for certain purposes. What is the point of 'being a fan' if I wasn't really participating like one?

The same thing applies on Twitter in some aspects- just because you have a certain number of followers, doesn't mean your reach via the timeline is large. Why? Well I can personally say I only really know about 50-60% of my followers (often which I personally follow back) and then there is a whole bunch online that have followed but don't interact with me, so I assume they're fake in some form or another.

What people and businesses need to realise is that a Facebook Fan Page, a YouTube account, a Twitter page - the number of fans, followers, subscribers you have, it all doesn't mean much if you can't say you have interacted with them at some point in time, the main idea behind SOCIAL media. Why is it that social media's return on investment (ROI) is so hard to measure? Because relationships and connections are intangible, they're hard to scale because they're subjective to the people involved - regardless they're importance remains clear, without them failure is almost inevitable. And where do these relationships come from? They're based on communication - clear communication between two parties to which then a bond is formed. Can you have a relationship without proper communication? The same applies to real relationships as it does to virtual. Social Media has increased the chance of the virtual transforming to more real relationships.,

One clear aspect of Social Media is the fact that it is a two way process - gone were the days of interruption, of one way communication. Now is the time for conversations, for relationships, bonding and collaboration. This isn't new facts, or strategy - it has existed way before Social Media took hold, it has just become more important, prevalent and easier with Social Media.

It doesn't matter how many fans you have on Facebook, how many followers you have on Twitter or how many subscribers you have on YouTube. It doesn't matter if you can't say - you know that they read what you write, they re-tweet what you say, they favourite you videos and re-post them. Its all about engagement, this is Generation C, the power is no longer in the companies but the audiences they reach.

So do you agree or disagree?

Let me know :)

Courtney @CourtneySit

So recently, I listened to talk by Jake Pearce, consultant for teaching people about Generation C (a term that many will not really be used to, but basically stands for Generation Control).

Jake explained that the latest word to be added into the dictionary was "UnFriend" - assuming that was in reference to Social Media and its various networking websites it means when someone chooses to unfriend a person on the website, whether or not that means the friendship is over in real life is debateable and subjective to the people involved.

I myself recently cleared all the pages I was supposedly a 'fan' of because I got sick of the endless 'updates' which I hardly EVER read (truth be told, fan pages don't really mean much as a sole aspect of a social media campaign as it is just as easy to click "become a fan" as it is to "remove me from fans") And this also connects back to my post about "Taste of Yellow" campaign, I received a tweet asking if I had seen the Taste of Yellow campaign fan page (with over 14,000 fans) - admittedly I hadn't, which proved my point again its lack of reach, but my point stands there - just because I am a 'fan', am I really a fan? And what about the others who click to become fans themselves? How many times have you personally become a fan of something on Facebook, only to simply forget about a week later and never check out the page again?

When I told someone that I recently cleared my fanpages, they told me - they recently cleared people they never talked to again off their friends list - this surprised me a little, but made sense at the same time. Why should I remain friends with someone who doesn't want to talk to me? And even though Facebook has recently been trying to encourage me to 'reconnect' with people I haven't written on the wall of lately, I can't say I have actually taken that suggestion on board (unless Facebook stalking counts - LOL!)

So back to the term 'UnFriend' - for those who are on Twitter, the word doesn't sound so odd because we also have the option to 'unfollow' someone we chose to 'follow'. As someone who has faced 'unfollowing' and 'unfriending' - I am personally not offended if anyone choses to suddenly unfollow me, however I have heard of stories or various dramas as a result of people choosing to unfollow others. In a relatively tight knit Twitter community which we have in New Zealand - it does mean that people will question what they have done to offend that person who chose to unfollow and stories begin, along with possible drama.

But what I want to know is - why is there drama involved in unfollowing?

As Twitter states, you choose to follow those who post updates which you find 'interesting' or 'relevant' to yourself. So if those updates suddenly become less frequent or no longer become relevant or interesting to you - doesn't it make sense to 'unfollow'? Of course, it seems rather straightforward - but naturally as humans we get emotionally attached (as such) to someone following us, can there be Twitter 'following and unfollowing' which can be void of drama?

I personally think yes, however proof would suggest otherwise - but here is a question I want to ask, why are people so obsessed with who is following who, how many followers you have and who choses to unfollow you? As someone who has a few followers, and an amount which fluctuates frequently, I gave up on my follower count awhile ago!

If anything, if a person choses to unfollow you - isn't it their loss? Sure, at first it hurts that someone doesn't want to hear what you're up to, or care what you have to say - but just like in life, should you care what others think if their opinion actually doesn't affect you?

Now, just to avoid becoming too philosophical - I just had to ask, why is there this drama? Where does the politics or the etiquette come from? Is it because we meet the person is real life that suddenly the etiquette changes? Must we be obligated to continue to follow someone just because we should? And where did these rules come from?

Have you ever faced a drama like this lately? What did you think? How did you deal with it? And if the drama is over - what do you think about it now?

Let me know... :)

Courtney @CourtneySit

As NZ businesses learn to appreciate the strength of Social Media as a form of connecting to its customers, it's not surprising to see many of them are attempting to start Social Media campaigns - and as someone who jumped the bandwagon slightly earlier than most, it's interesting to see they're approach to it or more of "are they doing it just because they should" or "are they doing it because they actually know the true power of it?"

My guesses are more of the former. And for this post, I'll be focusing on the Yellowpages campaign on their search for "What does Yellow Chocolate taste like" - just for the record, the concept was smart - how do you define what a color tastes like? However what I don't understand was why was it a Social Media campaign to begin with?

Sure, there was the "live" Twitter board - but that only went up officially after the campaign started, and every time I walked past it, it didn't have anything new to say and was about something completely unrelated to Yellow Chocolate. So why create a Twitter board where the person who is in command of it doesn't tweet much, and where was the whole interactive approach which is crucial to Social Media?

To me it would have been smart if they had started the campaign with just the question "What does Yellow Chocolate taste like?" - allowed people to post their opinions at various places, be it on Twitter, Facebook or even the main site. Then during the trip to find the 'flavor' to tweet about the places and how using Yellow pages phone book or website helped e.g. "Did you know that there are over ........ Chocolate companies in Auckland alone?" using questions and ways to engage the community, getting potential customers interested is about half the battle - and as a person I sure wasn't enticed to follow the Yellow Chocolate campaign.

This one sided approach reminds me about last year's campaign when they built a restaurant in a tree - though that received more hype, in that they actually had to open the restaurant which was originally just to build it instead. This campaign has sort of fallen flat, well through the perspective of social media. It has only been recently that I have seen some decent tweets coming out of the "Taste of Yellow" account - but to me there could have been more e.g. why wasn't the account following more New Zealand businesses? How can it only be following 100 or so people if it wants to get the word out there. It seems that although there is some hype - its not quite enough to really call it a social media campaign, with only a few retweets from its followers (something which is crucial in knowing that what you are saying has impact on the public).

One approach that could have been attempted was asking the wider community to help out e.g. "Check out the Yellowpages website, search for ... Tweet your response, best one gets a prize"? - its hard to deny the fact that people like free stuff - and although there is taste tests other opportunities, there could have been more attempts to crowd source and get the community to advertise for you.

As a person who is quite widely connected to many of the New Zealand Twitter communities, I have heard next to nothing about the Taste of Yellow campaign, I have heard most of it from the TV - which is a little odd, seeing as I don't watch that much TV. I also wondered, mid way through the campaign, they started advertising that it is time to get your business advertisement in before the "Book" closes - sure they're in the same company but why mesh the two together?

Regardless, kudos to Yellowpages for trying - I am not entirely sure of exactly what they tried to achieve, whether that is still attainable, or if they're simply just trying to get people to use Yellowpages more? Who knows, but I will admit - I use Twitter more with asking for information than I go to the Yellow pages website, why? I'm not too sure, but it is the truth.

So how much "more" do you use the Yellowpages now that the Taste of Yellow campaign is up? More? Less? Or about the same?

I'd like to know! :)

Courtney @CourtneySit

(Photo Credit: pms.tumblr.com)

Hello readers of SMNZ!

As you may have noticed, my posts on SMNZ blog have kind of been directed towards "The Funny Side of Social Media".

So I have been awarded: my own blog  "LOL Social Media". To dedicate all those times you may have looked at somebody attempt to make it in the Social Media sector, when people forget the power of Social Media or just when it goes askew!

I hope this section of blog posts will be interesting and maybe make you laugh a little

If you have anything to send me regarding those moments of "When Social Media Fails or Something you've found funny about Social Media", please comment here on this post, submit links to sites or pictures you think we should look at- don't worry we will acknolwedge you in the post for your findings :) or you can send me a tweet @CourtneySit

Stay Tuned...

Courtney @CourtneySit