By now everyone has had the new Twitter rolled out to them. If not, you’ll get it really soon. Right away you probably noticed how different it looks and how much less real estate there is to show off you or your company’s brand. While this is true, Twitter actually just got way more functional. Let’s dissect it some more.

The search bar is on top. I always thought the old search bar needed to be more visible. Now it’s far more prevalent at the very top. If you’ve never used the search feature, I encourage you to do so. It’s a great tool and the search queries are fast.

It’s wider. Fundamentally it’s still divided the same way: in two columns. You have your timeline of those who you follow on the left and you have information on who is following you and who you follow on the right. The “What’s happening?” tweet bar is still right where it was at the top.

Left_column. The left column still shows all of your follower’s tweets, but there are now tabs just below your tweet bar: Timeline, @Mentions, Retweets, Searches and Lists. Each of these is clickable and when clicked on, their respective function populates in the column below.

Read more…

Being a social media strategist at Microsoft, by way of Projectline, involves much more than just tweeting and maintaining a Facebook page. It’s about building community. Our product, one in the educational sector, requires a lot of online networking. I work hard to establish and build trust with educators around the world. Microsoft is a behemoth of a company and while you’d think the MSFT name would give you a shoe-in to any community – it simply doesn’t.

Teachers want to know that you are just as passionate about education as you are about the product you are marketing. To show them this, I usually sign my name at the end of my tweets to help give them a personal touch. Many social strategists and community managers sign only with their initials in this fashion:  ^EB. I go the extra mile and sign: -eric. On Facebook, I will send them personal e-mails and comments with my own profile (Eric Burgess) as well with my Mouse Mischief profile. It’s absolutely crucial to be as reachable as possible to your customers. The old ways of conducting customer service through 800 numbers and expensive CMS e-mail software are on their way out. People want immediate access to you, so why not give it to them? It’s all a part of the community building I mentioned earlier. How can you build a community without making you and your product as transparent as possible? You can’t. Below are some important things to consider as you work to build your community.

1. Are you Tony Hsieh’ing it?

Tony Hsieh is the founder and CEO of Zappos.com. Hsieh inspired me to get into social media. He was one of the first people I followed on Twitter and I was completely blown away by the amount of time he spent tweeting. He was so passionate about his customers that I consider him a social media pioneer: He used it to grow his business. And, he was reachable to everyone. I actually received a message from him when I responded to one of his tweets. What CEO does that? How could an online shoe business have nearly 1.7 million followers? Hsieh worked hard at growing his community. You’ve got to Hsieh it to stay in it. Read more…