I have a troll. Do you? We call him Spartacus. Trolls slither over the internet. They start as lurkers, then get brave, creep out and spit things at you. 10 out of 10 trolls feed on attention.

Negative or positive – they don’t care. Attention is the oxygen that keeps them going. Here’s the story of how I found my troll and what we may do next?

How did I get my troll?

I found him on LinkedIn. Or rather he found me. Then (this is true!) he popped up on my site. Odd, I thought, but ‘hey, it’s the web’. Then played peek-a-bo on Twitter (sad but true!) and back on my website again.

Little trolls fingers go click, click, click all day, looking for the next place to make a ‘stand’. Paradoxically, most trolls are highly-moral and like to sermonize. Middle-aged trolls especially. I guess the kids don’t listen to them at home, so they wander online.

Etymology of Trolls

Troll is possibly a truncation of the phrase trolling for suckers derived from the fishing technique of slowly dragging a baited hook from a moving boat, waiting for fish to strike, a technique known as trolling. The word also evokes the trolls portrayed in Scandinavian folklore and children’s tales, as they are often creatures bent on mischief and wickedness. The verb “troll” originates from Old French “troller”, a hunting term.

6 Signs of Trolls

1. Clinging to the high moral ground. They live there. Convenient, I guess.
2. Looking for a ‘fight’.
3. Having the last word. Trolls can’t rest unless they’ve had the final say thus…
4. Finishing tweets with the word PERIOD. Remember: it’s one-way traffic with these folks.
5. Warped pleasure in others misfortunes. Grammar police are often pseudo-trolls or apprentice trolls.
6. Quoting. Prepare to have biblical passages & Gandhi thrown at you. They’re better than you!

What to do with Trolls?

There are different ways to approach this:

1. Don’t correct them when they misquote passages.
2. Agree with them. This confuses the troll. What to do next?
3. Give them the last word and pray they go away.
4. ‘Even if this is true……’ and give your side
5. Although this is on-topic..’
6. Don’t DM your troll. Ever!
7. ‘Can you provide a source for this…’

We’ve nicknamed our troll Spartacus. He’s a bit of a joke at the table.

‘Any word from your Spartacus today?’

Over to you

Do you have a troll or trollette? How did you get rid of it? We’re hoping it will go away but sometimes I wonder what he’s doing now…

I’ve started to use my social networks more strategically rather than adopting a ‘shotgun approach’. In other words, I try to leverage each site by seeing the opportunities it offers and then using these. Recently, I’ve started to shift away from Facebook and moved to LinkedIn.

Ivan Walsh's Linkedin Profile page

5 Reasons You Should Leave Facebook and Join LinkedIn

What does LinkedIn offer that Facebook doesn’t? Here are five reasons to Leave Facebook and join LinkedIn instead.

1. Target Audience – the average age on Facebook is 20 something and female. It’s a great place to meet people, swap videos, and chat. But it’s not a business platform. LinkedIn’s average age is 41. Most everyone is a business professional trying to meet other business professionals. So, for me, this gives it a huge edge of Facebook.
2. Business Groups – LinkedIn is designed around business groups. You can join these and instantly connect with people with similar interest. On Facebook, there may be fan pages, but it’s often just that, fans! No real dialogue goes on.
3. Recommendations – you can build relationships with people on LinkedIn and once they know/trust/do business with you, will give you recommendations. These professional endorsements give you an element of credibility that you don’t get elsewhere. And while this can be abused (I recommend you if you recommend me) it does seem to work.
4. Integration with other platforms – you can connect to LinkedIn from multiple social media portals, such as BusinessWeek, AMEX Open Platform, and even from Facebook.
5. Knowledge Exchange – I’ve kept the best for last. The conversations I have on LinkedIn are with the best people in their fields. You can learn a huge amount just by listening. Ask questions and see what comes back. The quality is very high. And unlike other sites, the conversations rarely degenerate into slanging matches. You can also receive the comments by email every day or bundled into a single email every week.

I will highlight other business benefits in the coming weeks. These are the first that come to mind.

Your thoughts

What do you think of LinkedIn? How does it compare to other business sites you’ve used? What would you like to see changed in it? How could it be improved?

PS – You can view my profile here – http://www.linkedin.com/in/ivanwalsh

If you have multiple Twitter accounts, want to schedule your tweets, want to see stats on your tweets, and want it all in a new user interface, then try Hootsuite. I used to use TweetDeck but have moved to Hootsuite as it offers better stats and integration with Facebook. Here are 10 tips to get the most out of this desktop twitter client.

1. How to add multiple Twitter accounts

To add multiple Twitter accounts (ie profiles), click Settings and then the Social Networks tab.

Enter your Twitter credentials and it will display in a new tab (usually to the right).

2. How to allow an Editor (e.g. friend) to access a Twitter profile?

Once you have added an editor to your account, click the Social Networks tab in Settings. Select the Twitter profiles an editor can have access to.

Click the box next to the editor(s) name in order to grant access to the Twitter profile.

3. How to monitor my brands?

Set up a search column or a keyword column.

Click Add Column and enter the keywords you want to track. This column is displayed to the right of the screen.

4. How to add tabs?

To add a tab, click the [+] Add Tab button next to your current tabs .

Name it and decide how often you’d like that tab to refresh.

Hootsuite gives you 20 tabs – should be enough!.

5. How to add columns to tabs?

Click Add Column and choose which type of feed you’d like to add.

6. How to configure column options?

The Profile Feed lets you add your Home feed, Mentions feed, Pending tweets, Sent tweets, and Favorite tweets.

7. How to use Keyword Tracking

Enter the keyword and then hit Add.

Hootsuite lets you create customized Twitter searches and perform searches like “from:username” or @username

8. How to change refresh frequency?

Click Edit Tab and select the frequency.

The default is 30 min.

9. How to change the user interface layout

You can drag and drop the tabs to change thee layout.You can also drag/drop the columns in each profile.10 How to create a List?

Create a new column and click Lists.

Enter an existing list or create a new one.

Here I’ve added a LinkedIn list. This let’s me see all the people I have ‘tagged’ as having useful links/info regarding LinkedIn.

Do you know any other good Hootsuite tricks? If you do, please add them below.

Dustin Curtis likes experiments. He re-arranged the words Follow Me on Twitter and the position of the hyperlink to see if it would increase the number of followers, i.e. click-throughs. Changing the text increased the clickthrough rate from 4.7% to 12.81%. Here’s how he did it.

At the bottom of his posts, there’s a phrase with a link to his Twitter account.

He started by “using commands instead of statements for guiding users.” The idea was to test what he calls “forceful phrasing”.

Using a Statement

a. “I’m on Twitter” 4.70%

The original phrasing led to a 4.70% clickthrough rate.

Using a command

a. “Follow me on Twitter” 4.70%

The clickthrough rate increased by 55% to 7.31%.

Note: Using a lower case “t” for Twitter led to a slightly higher rate of clicks (up to 6% more).

Using a stronger personal command

c. “You should follow me on twitter.” 10.09%

Using the words “you should” increased the clickthrough rate by 38% to 10.09%.

Adding the literal callout “here”

d. “You should follow me on twitter here.” 12.81%

Adding “here” as the link at the end of the phrase increased the clickthrough rate by 27% to 12.81%.

To recap:

“You” identifies the reader directly,

“should” implies an obligation, and

“follow me on twitter” is a direct command.

Moving the link to a literal callout “here” provides a clear location for clicking.

He tried other permutations that dulled the command, for example, using “please” in place of “should” and made the whole sentence a link. None performed as well as the final sentence.

You should read his article here

http://dustincurtis.com/you_should_follow_me_on_twitter.html

RJ Jacquez shares this tip for sharing large files on Twitter.

“If you are on Twitter, you know how easy it is to share photos with your followers, as well as URLs; and in fact many Twitter desktop clients, such as TweetDeck, make it as easy as drag-and-drop because they include built-in support for services like TwitPic and Bit.ly.

However sharing large files with your Twitter followers isn’t yet integrated into these applications and it can be quite confusing to most people.”

RJ recorded the following short how-to video, where he goes over how the free Acrobat.com Share service can be used to store and share large files with your Twitter followers.

Click HERE to watch the how-to video on Sharing Large files on Twitter via Acrobat.com

Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, makes some interesting points about “Google’s stealth social network’. I don’t think she’s a fan. She also sees Facebook as, “having a unified product and we’re spreading. In terms of what is the social web, we think we have the deepest understanding of it, and our product evolution shows that”.

In her own words: “The web is evolving. Goes from an anonymous identity on the web to your real identity. We think it’s good that there are other people evolving the social web. We believe that if we continue to iterate on the products, and stay ahead technologically, we can provide most value to users.

For me, this is the interesting part:

“Google has lots of different products you use that are only tied together through your Google login. We have a unified product and we’re spreading. In terms of what is the social web, we think we have the deepest understanding of it, and our product evolution shows that.”

Techcrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/

<<We have a unified product and we’re spreading.

I think the COO is contradicting herself here.

How you can be unified and spread?

Does spread mean increased numbers in the user base or across a global level?

For me the difference between Google and Facebook is that Google is essential to how I do business online, whereas Facebook in an option. It’s useful, but just a nice to have. Nothing more, tbh.

While I respect their business acumen, FB hasn’t created a single product (that I can think of) that demonstrates any real innovation.

Maybe I’m wrong!

Tell me what you think.

Chris Brogan (read and bookmark!) just hit a new milestone.

He’s now getting over 600 emails a day on average. 50% were people asking me his time, 25% were “really nice people,” 20% were business opportunities, and 5% were friends. A quick bit of math: if he answered 1 email a minute, 600 emails would take me 10 hours to answer.

The thing is, we’re all busy. We all have tons of email. We have no time to get it all handled.

But what will you do to get your email answered (for the most part)?

I’ve got a few thoughts, and this relates to some of what Julien Smith and I talked about in Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust.

If you want to improve your chances of an email being answered by someone (like me), here are some thoughts and ideas.

How to Get Your Email Answered

1. Brevity.

I have no time for huge rambling emails. Lead with what you need from me. Fill me in on the backstory (if you feel you must), and then end again with what you need from me. (Most imporant part: lead with what you need from me).

2. Connectivity.

If you talk with me on other platforms (like comment on my blog or talk with me on Twitter or Facebook), then I’m much more likely to know who you are.

3. Skip the flattery.

PR types: starting with “I love your blog” and then pitching me something I could care less about is a bit of a mismatch. You clearly don’t understand my blog if you’re pitching me stories that don’t relate to what I’m doing.

4. Get right to it.

Most emails have about 200 words of throat-clearing. Feel free to just be brief and to the point.

5. Make it mutually beneficial.

It’s very nice that you want me to help you get attention, but it’s rare that this does anything for me. Is there anything you’re going to do for my community to make this more worthwhile for them to care about you?

6. Make every email about resolving to a close.

I hate open-ended emails. Examples: “what would you like for lunch tomorrow?” Instead, how about, “I’m thinking about either tapas or Korean BBQ tomorrow. Do you have a preference?” One makes things close faster. The other makes the message linger.

7. Give the right lead time.

Asking me for something today is probably not going to happen. Asking me for something in three months is going to be forgotten. Think more in terms of two weeks for a typical response, or two or three months for something involving travel. Make sense?

8. Equip a trust agent.

It’s easier to get some kind of response by having someone who knows your target person introduce you.

What else? What else do you think will help?

By the way, since I started my contact form, I’ve found that I *love* responding to information that goes through it. It resolves to a Google spreadsheet, and I can bang out several dozen answers a minute on the form.

Get Your Email Answered: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/get-your-email-answered/

Read: Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust

Ben Parr (Mashable) asks: “Say your project manager comes to you with his proposal that will be going out to investors, business partners, and potential clients.

Then you find that your manager has used “4” instead of “four”, “r” instead of “are”, and abbreviations such as lol, atm, and idk.

How would you react? “How To Mind Your Grammar On The Web.

When is it appropriate to use this type of language shorthand?

Ben has come up with this short guide on grammar on the web for business:

Do: Understand your audience and understand your company’s personality, especially when communicating with customers.

Do: Utilize some forms of Internet shorthand while tweeting.  Occasionally abbreviating to fit within the limit is an acceptable practice

Do: Be Authentic. If you’re known as someone that uses shorthand and you’re comfortable with that, then you shouldn’t do a complete 360 in your communications.

Don’t: Use Internet shorthand in emails.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s a customer, an employee, or a potential business client.

Don’t: Use Internet shorthand in business-to-business communication. This includes Facebook, Twitter direct messages, and email.

Ben: http://www.openforum.com/grammar-on-the-web-some-rules-of-thumb-for-business-ben-parr

To this I would add:

• Think Local: don’t write localize (US) when it’s localise for those in the UK
• Jargon – avoid using insider speak that only you and your company use.
• TLA – cut out three-letter-acronyms. Sometimes it’s fine, but if you are going to use it, then make sure you spell it out somewhere in your report, preferably near the start. Otherwise, no-one will have clue when you’re ranting on about.
• Small words are fine. Don’t try to impress people with multi-syllable words and strange noun structures. Keep it simple.

What’s the most common grammar mistake you see on the web?