The World’s Friendliest Influential Social Media Experts

I particularly like that Gary V. is #1 on this list, as I met him while working at my very first post-grad school job as Social Media Assistant Manager of Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons at a presentation at Walt Disney World. He was so friendly and personable, and after meeting him I was hooked. Interacting with him on Twitter since then has been fun, even if he doesn’t remember we met in person!

 I am looking forward to being on this list the next time it’s compiled!

For the full list visit Twtrland!

I’m Back

Happy New Year!

A lot has changed since I last posted on this blog. A new job turned into my first layoff, which turned into becoming an entreprenuer, Co-Founder and business owner. A move back to my home-state of Michigan proved to be great for the business and my personal life.

I’m excited to share with you all musings from my “Top 3”: Fitness, Speaking and Being Social. I’ll explain why the “Top 3” and why those listed are mine.

In the meantime, connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to stay in touch!

Thanks for reading and I look forward to blogging again!

-xoxo Courtney Lane

Osama Bin Laden Killed – Announced During Celebrity Apprentice

So as we all have heard (or not, if you were living under a rock like Bin Laden), Osama Bin Laden is dead and his body is in U.S. custody. This, compounded with President Barack Obama delivering this message DURING Celebrity Apprentice, shortly after his impromptu “roast” of Donald Trump puts Obama in a category I like to call, winning. Granted, winning [including such phrases as bi-winning, tiger blood, adonis dna, etc] is quickly passing through its maturity stage and ideally will be “dead” soon, but some phrases really just mark a scenario. This is one of those instances.

Twitter definitely noticed this double whammy as well:

@jimmyfallon: Got Bin Laden AND interrupted Celebrity Apprentice? Win for Obama all around.

@katespencer: President Obama’s address is interrupting Celebrity Apprentice. Well played.

@Ranity: President Obama to Donald Trump and everyone who watches Celebrity Apprentice “All y’all bitches is my sons”.

Here’s more from CNN about Osama Bin Laden’s death:

DNA matching is under way on samples from the body of slain terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, a U.S. government official told CNN on Monday. There are photographs of the body with a gunshot wound to the side of the head that shows an individual who is not unrecognizable as bin Laden, the official said. No decision has yet been made on whether to release the photographs and if so, when and how.

The mastermind of the worst terrorist attacks on American soil was killed by U.S. forces Monday in a mansion in Abbottabad, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, U.S. officials said. Four others in the compound also were killed. One of them was bin Laden’s adult son, and another was a woman being used as a shield by a male combatant, the officials said. Bin Laden’s body was later buried at sea, an official said. Many Muslims adhere to the belief that bodies should be buried within one day. The official did not release additional details about the burial, but said it was handled in keeping with Muslim customs. The death of the founder and leader of al Qaeda comes almost 10 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks that killed about 3,000 people.

In an address to the nation last night, U.S. President Barack Obama called bin Laden’s death “the most significant achievement to date in our nation’s effort to defeat al Qaeda.” Washington is nine hours behind Pakistan. “Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan,” Obama said. “A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.” A congressional source familiar with the operation said bin Laden was shot in the head. The killing of bin Laden was the culmination of years of intelligence work and months of following a specific lead, senior U.S. administration officials said.

The key break involved one of the few couriers trusted by bin Laden, according to the officials. About two years ago, intelligence work identified where the courier and his brother lived and operated in Pakistan, and it took until August to find the compound in Abbottabad that was raided, they said. According to the senior administration officials, intelligence work determined at the beginning of 2011 that bin Laden might be located at the compound. [Read More at CNN.com]

Twitter and The Hack

It seems every day a celebrity or brand’s Twitter account is “hacked”. For those of you who haven’t yet figured out what that means, “hacked” is code for: “We tweeted something reckless, either on purpose or accident, and now need to rectify the situation by removing blame from ourselves.”

This happens to celebrities and brands. Here are a few recent examples:

Chrysler –

Scott Bartosiewicz’s (a University of Michigan MBA student) Twitter posting from last week read:

“I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to fucking drive.”

It was meant to appear on his personal account, but Bartosiewicz mistakenly sent it to the Chrysler brand’s feed while he was stuck in traffic on Interstate 696.

Marc Jacobs –

The intern went on to tweet that Duffy is a “tyrant” and that@MarcJacobsIntl followers “have no idea how difficult Robert is. I am only an intern”, he wrote. “My last day is tomorrow. I wouldn’t be tweeting this if not!”

“Good luck! I pray for you all. If you get the job! I’m out of here. See ya! Don’t want to be ya! Roberts a tyrant! Seriously! He is tough!” the intern continued.

“I can call him out! I’m out! Won’t work in this town again! I know that! Learned a lot. But, I don’t have the energy for what is expected!” said another tweet.

Before signing off, he wrote, “Yea, walk in my MJ shoes! Don’t judge me! I’m alone in this office having to try and entertain you all. This isn’t easy. I have tried. Done!”

Willow Smith –

“So Chris Brown is going to prison now breaking a window at ABC, but he didnt go for hurting Rihanna? #karma”

read the post on Smith’s Twitter page. The tweet was later removed and replaced with an explanation, posted by the singer’s record label, Roc Nation.

“This is a negativity free zone, unfortunately this account has been hacked thanks for your support. Sincerely @rocnation.”

So, you get the picture. If you are a brand or a celebrity, and say something reckless, you are given a “get out of jail free card”, delete set tweets and cry “Hacker!” and move on.

So I’ve got a huge problem with this! First of all, celebrities are people, just like you and me. They get upset, they get emotional, and they want their opinions heard. Why can’t we just be okay with that? I mean, the general population tweets all day about their opinions on Chris Brown, is Willow not entitled her own opinion? As a young teen with a “girl power” mindset, I am glad she has an opinion about Chris Brown, and the wherewithal to view his previous actions as unacceptable!

With regard to Brand “hacked” accounts, this is a much deeper issue. What we have here, are interns, or entry level employees, who are being paid $0.00 – $5.99/hour to tweet on behalf of multi billion dollar brands. This is the equivalent of asking your disgruntled secretary to deliver a live broadcast of a press release, and then being completely shocked when she bursts into a soapbox tirade about her poor pay and long hours!

Note to brands, in the words of my eloquent bestie Mia, “…maybe if u choose a person to be the “voice” of your company you should pay them a little more so the voice doesnt sound homeless, starved and suicidal”.

My sentiments exactly.

So yes, maybe Scott shouldn’t have been tweeting and driving, because he probably would have been able to confirm what account he was posting to. But at the same time, stuff happens. 10 years ago it was the dreaded “Reply All” button on email. Now it’s making sure you’re posting to the correct account when tweeting. It’s something we learn as we grow more comfortable, but mistakes happen. Should Scott have been fired? I’m not the judge of that. Will he ever work in Social Media again? I sure hope so.

So I’m calling BS on the “Twitter Hack” and hoping we can learn to be a little more understanding about a platform that is just a glorified soapbox where most people forget what they read on there 10 minutes later.

Day 3

My internal clock is paranoid. I woke up at 6:30am for the second day in a row. This is better than waking up late for work, and good because I’m up so I might as well to do random things like clean and check email before work.

It’s hard not texting friends throughout the day. If you have a random question or thought. I’ve used email, twitter, and facebook messaging to complete these tasks, but there’s something about a little haldheld device that makes it seem that much more urgent.

As I suspected, not much has changed without my cell phone. I can still tweet, talk to my friends, make necessary calls to people who don’t have twitter and skype, like my mother, but it’s just a lot more… boring. That little ping your phone makes when you get a text, hearing LMFAO chant out “Shot Shot Shot!” when my friend Mia calls, these little luxuries are dearly missed.

Also, there are no longer last minute plans made, or invites extended. I leave the gym and have nothing to do on the ride home, except drive (gasp) and listen to the radio. I can’t see if a friend has invited me for drinks, or if I have any calls or emails to return during the nearly 2 hours I locked my phone away in the gym locker. In a society formed around being busy and feeling important, I have lost the device that solidified these feelings. It’s like Anne Hathaway in Bride Wars, who can jog without an iPod because she’s not scared of her own thoughts.

My brother is sending me an old blackberry, he has since upgraded to a G1, like I had previously. Taking your 19 year old brothers hand-me-downs is not where I envisioned myself in 2010. But, the show must go on. And I have a couple more days to experience life without just a cell phone, but an entire social media device.