Dissecting My Social Media Dashboard

Posted by Erik Manassy on May 31st, 2011 | View Comments

This is the FIRST Post in a series called “Social Media Dashboards”.

Dashboards.  That was a big buzzword at one of my recent jobs.  The idea to get all kinds of information on one screen and then the ability to dig deeper is appealing to executives who want to graze the key issues with limited time.

Three main types of digital dashboard dominate the market today: stand alone software applications, web-browser based applications, and desktop applications also known as desktop widgets. The last are driven by a widget engine.

The more I blog on the New York Jets and other topics, the more sources I want to tap into whether it’s an individual, company, blog or any source.

What makes it difficult is that there is SO much information coming at you and without a plan to mine this information, it can become overwhelming and influence you to quit looking, researching and reading.

Over time, I didn’t realize but I started creating my own dashboard, my Social Media Dashboard.  My tools are ALL web based and I use various tools and platforms and at any given time.  Because it is web based I can see my entire world of the topic I follow (The New York Jets) anywhere on any platform.

What is amazing is that EVERY SINGLE tool I use is free.  I don’t pay one cent for any of them which is simply amazing and is proof that anyone can become a thought leader, blogger, and expert on any topic if the passion is there.  Without the passion, time, and perseverance, YOU WILL GIVE UP.

So first you are probably wondering what information and sources I keep in my dashboard.  For this example, let’s use my Jets Blog (JetsTwit.com) as the “company”.

Information Overload, How do you Track EVERY SOURCE?

For my blog, I want to gather a holistic picture of Market Intelligence to make my blog the best it can be.  I need to monitor the following topics, and I do it on social media platforms.  Topics include:

• Competitor Blogs
• Fans on Twitter
• Partner Sites / Blogs
• Influential People in Jets Land (Journalists, Bloggers, Jets Employees and of course Players)

The platforms include:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Forums
• Jets Blogs

I’m always listening to these channels.  There are days it looks like I’m not paying attention because maybe you are looking for output on my social media accounts or blogs, but trust me, I’m there EVERY SINGLE DAY, listening.  There are many reasons why I may not post such as no hot topics such as I’m busy or the main reason for me is that I do not tweet or blog just to do it.  I want to make sure I’m putting out the highest quality content possible.

There is SO much detail to put into one post.   I could go into about what my dashboard tools are or how and why I blog and tweet certain topics to gain certain calls to action.  In this blog series, I’ll be posting multiple times digging deeper into the method of my madness and how I tackle blogging, social media, and doing business on the new web.

Next Topic ——>  Setting up the Dashboard Foundation