This is not just for brands. This is for everyone who uses twitter or any other social media tool.  I was a little torn and confused about an issue (which was probably only an issue in my demented mind).  A few weeks ago, I wrote how Brands need to be on Twitter; which was kind of a written rebuttal to a Mashable post. Then I was bummed that we (Intel) didn’t make it on Mashable’s “Top Twitter Brands” list and expressed my concerns here.

And now, I really don’t care anymore. It was more of an ego thing that I/we/Intel didn’t make a top ten list somewhere.

Don’t get me wrong. Brands are important and the Intel Brand helps pay for my mortgage; but in social media ‘brands’ are less relevant than human beings.  I recently came across this post via a comment left on Conversations Matter from Jesse Liebman.  The post titled, Brands Are Not Allowed To Make Mistakes, But People Are, written by Collin Douma is completely right on.  Here is an excerpt of the original post:

When Scott Monty (blog/twitter) from Ford or Richard (blog/twitter) from Dell make a mistake, they correct it. People respond, trust is earned, the brand is protected and everyone moves on.

When Motrin, Wal-mart, Target, Hasbro, Ticketmaster or any other brand make a mistake in social media, credibility is lost. Consumers lose trust and the offending brand becomes a slide in one of the countless number of PowerPoint decks detailing what *not* to do.

It goes back to humanity and the idea that people relate to people; not a logo or brand.  Of course, there are always exceptions (i.e. I relate extremely well with my beautiful iPhone). But the fact of the matter is that when I think of Dell, I don’t think about Dell.com, the Dell Kiosk in the local mall or even my old Dell Inspirion that died a year ago.  I think of Richardatdell and some of the conversations we have had in the past.

A recent comment from Deb Schultz at the OMMA Social conference hit the nail on the head. During a panel discussion, Deb said, “think like a human, not as a marketer.  There no such thing as a social media marketing campaign. It’s building relationships.”  I hold true to her sentiment; and I am certain that most companies will eventually understand this really basic concept.  I know at at Intel we do and we are still learning every day.

I am on twitter for several reasons. One being, that I am a very social person and I enjoy to Iearn/share/laugh/LOL/LMAO/IMHO/Retweet with all my friends, colleagues and acquaintances.  It’s fun and I am building relationships; and to be completely transparent about the issue, I do post links to Intel related content.  I am just careful that I follow an 80/20 rule (well more like 90/10); whereby 90% of my tweets are personal and 10% are Intel related.  Still though, with everything I do post, I try to be as human as possible.

As I browse through my twitter account and read all the conversations about this and that; I see a lot of humanity in each and every tweet.  It’s actually pretty awesome to see. If there is ever a time that I am not displaying the basic principle of humanity, I hope that one of my friends will call me on it.

ps. not sure why I chose this title for the post. I guess it just sounded good. : )

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