All aTwitter about new media
September 24, 2008 by Thomas B. Haines, Editor in Chief
I’m at the FOLIO publishing conference this week in Chicago (I visited the Garmin store–very slick and just up Michigan Avenue from the Apple store). What’s interesting about publishing conferences the last few years is that there are almost no seminars on putting ink on paper. It’s all about e-media–blogs (we’re there!), video, and social networking. Lots of talk about Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and others. Do you think AOPA should be putting content out through these channels? Do you participate? I recently set up profiles on Twitter and Facebook. Take a look. Let me know how and if you use such media. We’re anxious to know how to best communicate with you.
Tags: Tom Haines
September 24th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Twitter would be great, if its used well. You may need to have a “personal” and “professional” account setup. Aviation related tweets will be nice, going to church, not so much.
One trap to avoid is posting to 2 services. If you post a blog entry here, don’t post to twitter that there is a new blog entry. Let RSS do its thing and notify people.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Hi Tom,
I’m a digital strategist, and a pilot. (AOPA member since 2001)
I’d be happy to chat with you about social media anytime.
Last week I gave a talk Chicago New Media Summit (CNMS08) about the intersection of aviation and social media, which brought me to founding myTransponder.
building a social media utility and living to talk about it
http://www.slideshare.net/rodrakic/building-a-social-media-utility-and-living-to-talk-about-it-presentation/
I hope that you may find it useful.
Maybe we can get together if you’re still in town.
Cheers,
Rod
@rodrakic on Twitter
http://www.myTransponder.com
September 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Yes, if done properly Twitter can really establish communications with members and open up a new form of communication, without Twitter I would not have found out about your posting on this page.
Also to prevent someone from stealing your idea I just reserved the AOPA name, just drop me an email to this message and I will give you the account information.
September 24th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I have to disagree with Mike Bond. Not everyone uses RSS and rely on those twitter tweets to check something out. Posting that there is a new blog might be redundant for some, but not for others.
As far as Twitter goes, I enjoy it and would definitely be interested in an AOPA account to follow.
September 24th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I would defiantly follow the AOPA on twitter and FaceBook.
Twitter is a great way to send quick updates or get instant feedback.
September 24th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Twitter all the way. Facebook not so much, but twitter can post to Faebook at the same time so it is a moot point anyway.
Not only do lots of folks NOT use RSS but now there is so much out there that I find it useful to get a link in Twitter. Not: “A new blog post at” but a “we are having a discussion about XYZ at” kind of a post.
I’d suggest you look at the approach many are taking including @MyTransponder and @ColonelTribune (Chicago Tribune) take of having a persona who leads the discussion that points back to the site for broader information. Along the way, they use http://plurl.me (or others) for tracking responses to help see what topics hit or miss.
Like Matthew J, I would not have found this post without a Twitter link. I also wold not have visited the site until it is time to renew. I am a heavy RSS feed user, but I don’t have your feed, so I would never have been there. Twitter, if properly used, can bring people like me to your site far more often than I do now.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Glad to see AOPA continues to embrace the online technologies. I have enjoyed the AOPA Blog and would follow an AOPA or AOPA Editor’s Twitter feed for sure. Using a variety of tools like these only expands the reach of the AOPA message.
February 12th, 2009 at 12:57 am
You should definitely add these to at least facebook. As a pilot I want people to know what I do and the organizations that support the profession.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:13 am
I believe anyway you can promote the organization is valuable. It will help strengthen the flying community. The more pilots there are the more planes fly!