Social Media – Mitchell's thoughts, photos, etc.

What Do People Want to Read?

Where Do Their Interests Lie?

By Mitchell Slepian

We all know we are swamped by too much copy. Whether it be news, fiction, non-fiction, or social media posts. We can agree that social media falls between fiction and non-fiction. We all know people who swear by it and believe everything that’s posted.

Some of you know, for many years, I have been working on a graphic novel. It is taking too long. I need an illustrator. For those of you following, Marc, Alana, Anat, and the rest of the bunch, I thank you. There will be more soon enough.

The questions on my mind are: What are people interested in reading, and how can I get them to read it? As a PR professional, I was taught that when pitching a journalist, I need to explain why a story is newsworthy and why readers will care. I remember creating the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA) Economic Outlook Survey Index. The AICPA had an economic outlook survey. No one cared about it. Duke University and CFO Magazine partnered on one. Several other universities had a survey I wanted ours to reach new heights. At the time, we did it with North Carolina State University. I spoke to trusted reporters at Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, and a few other media outlets. The journalists told me to create one index. I got approval and did it. I offered embargoed data to Bloomberg, Dow Jones, and The New York Times. All of them ran it. That was in 2011. The survey continues to run and gets top-tier media coverage. I have long left the AICPA. But now I was able to create something that people wanted to read.

I have been writing blogs on many topics, including but not limited to AI and how it is shaping our future, Coney Island, how people try to sit anywhere at shows and games at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and other venues, the Staten Island Ferry, etc.

The Drop on the Cyclone, Luna Park, Brooklyn, NY

My blog about Coney Island and the Ferry got many clicks. The AI blog got several comments on LinkedIn. But one person read it. Weird. I wrote about LinkedIn. People did read it. Did it reach the numbers of Coney Island and the ferry? Not even close. I know from my PR work that certain industry trades carry a lot of weight. Their circulation numbers are not high. But consistent placement in those outlets leads to top-tier media, such as The Wall Street Journal.

The Ferry Sailing By the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge

I know my blog posts are not at the level of the top trades and media. But I have a small but growing following. My AI post would have opened up new areas. Maybe we haven’t gotten there with AI yet. Or we are over exposed, and people are taking a break from reading about it.

The question remains: are people more interested in things that are changing and reshaping our world? Or, would they rather read about the things they grew up with and are closest to?

Likes? Kindness? Courtesy?

Can We Be Polite When We Comment on Social Media?

By Mitchell Slepian

Positively and negatively, social media has impacted our lives. Even if you’re not active and don’t have any accounts, it has made changes for you. I have not posted on my Facebook wall in nearly six years. I do run several sites for the organizations I belong to. We get thousands of hits, comments, etc. It has helped us grow. We’ve gotten financial and other donations. Our social media efforts have helped drive our narrative.

I do post on a few fun sites. The top two are Coney Island and Staten Island Ferry Friends. Who doesn’t love Coney Island? It has it all – The Cyclone, Nathan’s, the NY Aquarium, the Polar Bears, the Wonder Wheel and more. Much more. I am originally from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. I spend a lot of time at Coney Island. Funny thing, I spend more time there now than when I lived in Brooklyn. Sadly, I only lived there for a few years.

The holy medicinal waters at Coney Island

As someone who grew up on Staten Island, I have taken my share of rides on that big orange boat. That boat has taken Staten Islanders to and from Manhattan since 1817. It has an annual ridership of 22 million.

I focus heavily on my photography at these locations. My posts get hundreds of likes and comments. One shot of the ferry has over 10,000 views. I do not live for “likes” on Facebook. I once had a dear friend who got upset when his posts didn’t get too many likes. Years ago (Feb. 3, 2017), I wrote a blog post titled “Do We Live for Likes?” It got a few views and likes.

Deck on the Dorothy Day: Over 10,000 views and 600 likes

It is nice to see my images generate comments and memories. People bring up fun times they had riding the Cyclone, munching on that great hot dog at Nathan’s, or when they heard the man yell, “Shine, shine” on the ferry. Don’t forget the ferry preachers. It is fun.

But what I do not understand is why people must be nasty about the posts. For the record, the people on the Coney Island pages are so positive. There are those afraid of the Cyclone and mention the moments they freaked out on the drop and its twists and turns. I rode it on Mother’s Day. Mom watched while she held my Yankee hat. Once my old Yankee hat blew off on the Cyclone. I am still hoping to find it under the tracks. Who knows what probably tried to eat it? I love it when people comment about how they ran into the ocean in February during a snowstorm. More power to you.

For the most part, people on the ferry page are just as nice. But people need to be polite. I recently posted a shot of the Sandy Ground boat docking at St. George. In the shot, the deckhand is at the gate. One person commented, “He looks lost.” Another wrote, “gay.”

Deckhand Getting Ready for the Sandy Ground to Dock

I can understand why people attack how filthy the boat bathrooms are. They need to be cleaned. Or when they are shocked by how clean the decks look in the images I shot. Bear in mind, I usually take photos on weekend morning runs. The ferries would be dirtier if I shot them during rush hour. But why can’t people just either be nice or refrain from commenting? There’s no need to say mean things about the deckhands. I can understand a comment about a needless pitching change that cost the Yankees a game. This is just a guy doing his job. Let’s love the drop on the Cyclone, ride our ferry, have fun, and support it all.

What’s the Best Way to Communicate: email, social media or texting?

By Mitchell Slepian

Email has been mainstream in business since the 1990s. As we know, we now have too many other ways to communicate, including but not limited to social media and texting. Remember faxing? Or snail mail? Both are still in play.

As a chair of a community organization and a volunteer in a few others, we generally communicate our business via email. Several of us who are friends often have our own discussions via chat. But all official business is done via email.

We have members who do not have email. They do not have computers. Some are senior citizens. But before we toss in the age factor, I have worked with people in their early 90s to create PowerPoints and run podcasts. They had no issues. Yes, I worked with people much younger who had no clue how to use email or other communication methods. So, age is just a number.

About two weeks ago, it snowed in New York City. It hampered some events. One started at 7:30 a.m. ET. The other was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. ET. We wound up combining our groups. This recent storm was not the first time we have had to take that course of action. It will not be the last. We early birds sat around, and the folks from the later-starting group wandered in. Both groups have their latecomers. Snow delayed some of them even further. A day or two later, I suggested that when we know the weather will not be good, we send an email and make a robocall to let people know we are combining. Several people blasted this idea, saying some people don’t have email, and others don’t want to be bothered by a robocall. I made the case that email has been in play for a long time and that the call was coming from a number we all know. It should not register as a potential spam call, as carriers like to say.

I know people who text to landlines. I still have one. The texts usually arrive in gibberish. As chair of my group, generally start meetings (which are traditionally on Zoom, that’s another issue), reminding people you need to text their cell phones. Some folks love Facebook Messenger. Unfortunately, they do not realize Messenger works on Facebook. Many don’t know that you cannot email Gmail or send SMS messages from Messenger. Don’t get me started on WhatsApp. I think it works great and has its place.

Before I was chair, I was corresponding secretary. I created a form for people to send me via email when they donate. I can take their contact information off it and generate thank-you notes to distribute via email and traditional mail. It is still lovely to receive a personal, warm thank-you note in the mail. One of my chairs used to mail me handwritten notes with donor information. Sometimes he would wait weeks, and I’d get an envelope with 30 or 40 scraps of paper with contact information. This issue severely hampered our program.

The question has always lingered in my mind: What to do? I continue to use email and will call people. But the question will always linger on how to reach everyone.

Technology On Vacation – Love It or Leave It?

This topic has been discussed before. I may add a new twist. Perhaps not. Hopefully, we all go on enjoyable vacations.

I’ve been to Israel, Ireland, Italy, and Iceland. You can see I like “I” countries. Toss in Austria, Czech Republic, England, Hungary, Germany, Russia, Spain, and a few islands. Most of the time, I travel solo. Last year, I went to Israel with my mom—her first time. I was the tour guide.

The first solo trip I took was to Aruba. As far as technology, I had my office’s BlackBerry. Remember those? The iPhone wasn’t invented yet. I only had a US connection. So, if I wanted to reach out to people at home in the States, I needed to go to hotel’s business center. I only went to it to check in for my return flight. It was great. I hung out on the beach, did a few dive trips, and sipped rum. I had no contact with the outside world. The only thing I ever really wanted to know was the Yankee scores. During my early travel days, they were winning it all. Please note I always blocked out October on my calendar to be home to watch post-season games at the Stadium or home.

I went to Italy with my mom and sister. I talk to my mom most. My sister, that’s another story. But she’s great. I had my trusted BlackBerry with only a US connection. In those days, international connections were pricey, and my office probably would not allow it. I went to Spain with mom. The bank in Barcelona ate her debit card. We needed to call the bank. Somehow, we got through. Other than that, we made no calls, texts, etc. It was a more civil time – social media just started, and people were not yet adapting.

Jump to Russia. I asked my boss if I could have an international connection. He said yes. They were worried about me being in Moscow. It is beautiful. The food sucked. I contacted no one.

Usually, when I travel, I make a small travel kit. I include my itinerary, receipts of all pre-paid fees and my flight information. When I went to Iceland, I made this kit. However, I forgot to include the flight information. So, I logged into my email account at the hotel’s business center and found it. Of course, I saw dozens of emails. I was dumb enough to open them and respond. That’s when it started. If I had my proper travel kit, I just would have gone to the airline’s website and checked in. That’s what I usually do. Once, when I was in Israel, I saw my email or Facebook account when I was checking into my return El Al flight. I was pleased when I had a message and friend request from someone. We chatted for a few minutes.

As my travels continued, I had my iPhone, and the international fees were reasonable. Add in WhatsApp and you could text and call at no cost. With my mom in Israel, we used it to keep in touch. We had plenty of time together. Thankfully, we had plenty of time to be independent. My mom had to call her elderly mom a few times. We used technology correctly. It was used when needed. I did similar on other trips to the Holy Land. I only used to make a few calls or texts to people I was meeting for dinner.

Of course, currently, social media is in full use by all. Sad. I took a few shots with my iPhone. I took most with my Nikon and had to wait for any posts until I got home and Photoshopped. I never post to any accounts while I am away. I’d rather stay quiet.

I spent my recent birthday in Ireland. Many called and texted to send birthday wishes. I thanked all. I got tons of greetings on social media. Like all places, I took a few iPhone shots. I sent those around via the various apps to my friends and family. I still checked the Yankees scores. It made no difference what they did. Friends were sending messages making fun of how poorly we were playing. I sat in Peadar O’Donnell’s, Derry, UK and sipped Smithwick’s or Baileys Irish Cream and heard great music. Using my iPhone; I was recapping my adventures with friends. I did similar at other pubs and other spots in Ireland.

I am exploring going to the safari in South Africa. If I go, I will have my 600mm zoom lens to take shots of Simba, Dumbo, and most importantly, giraffes. Will I chat and call friends and family? I don’t know. I would guess, probably, while simultaneously sending them a few snapshots. My phone won’t take the best images of the giraffes and lions. But a tease is ok.

Do I love technology on vacations? Or do I dream of the days when I had no connection to the outside world and just lived in the location I was touring? I do not know.