Brad Marley

Here in Detroit, we tend to get excited when we catch up with the rest of the United States.

In 1987, we thought we were entering world-class transportation territory when the Detroit People Mover opened. But nearly 25 years later, there is talk of shutting it down. A 25 cent fee-hike last month doesn’t bode well, either.

In 2011, talks of a second Detroit-to-Windsor bridge heated up, only to fizzle when — gasp! — everyone involved thought it would be more fun to argue about the pros and cons instead of actually, you know, doing something.

Maybe that’s why we are so excited to officially enter the 21st century of dining with: a food truck.

In July of this year, El Guapo Grill, the first legal food truck in Detroit, opened it’s hinged-windows to customers downtown, and all it took was 60 visits to City Hall to get the permit. (If that’s not the heart and soul of Detroit, I don’t know what is.)

The sight of a food truck prowling the streets of Detroit gives the city a legitimate big-city feel, something we’ve lacked for, well, forever.

But besides the food, what I really dig about the truck is its use of Twitter to fuel the fires of fandom.

(Before I get into my story, I’d like to point out that, for all of the talk about how one person or company should use social media to increase business, the premise is pretty simple: Please your customers.)

Last weekend I saw a tweet that said they were going to announce a new menu item for the following Monday. I was curious, so replied that they shouldn’t leave us hanging. That’s mean.

In response, I received a direct message telling me what the special would be, and they also claimed they were only telling me. Whether I was the lone recipient of the secret, or they just said that, is a moot point. Their plan worked. I couldn’t resist Korean short rib tacos, so I gathered up a few of my colleagues on Monday and we took the People Mover (I know – so ironic) to the site where the truck sits.

The taco was tremendous. But what really stood out was how they got me to buy into their special item.

They treated me like a person and shared some special information.

That’s it.

I’m sure they know by now that their food speaks for itself. But by adding a personal touch to their marketing effort, they drew in four extra customers that probably would not have come out in the cold rain.

It was so simple, yet, so effective.

One can only hope that there are more food truck permits gathering dust in the queue at City Hall, because it adds another dimension to working downtown.

But if we’re stuck with El Guapo for a few more months, I would be okay with that.

They know what they’re doing.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the National Football League confirmed yesterday that Nickelback will, indeed, perform at halftime of the Detroit Lions’ annual Thanksgiving game this year.

I couldn’t be happier.

Not because I like Nickelback. Can’t stand them, actually.

But if a league as powerful as the NFL allowed itself to be swayed because of a petition signed by 50,000 people for the sole reason that they plum don’t like the band, that would set a dangerous precedent, wouldn’t it?

Sure, now it’s just Nickelback. But who’s to say that we don’t abuse this new-found power?

The web and social media have the power to advance righteous causes. Just ask the people in Egypt who rose up and did something about their situation.

Switching the halftime musical act at a football games isn’t one of them.

Sometimes, in life, you have to deal with stuff you don’t like. This is one of those times, even though this has about as much effect on our lives as how many touchdown passes Matthew Stafford throws.

Let’s just deal.

(Besides, who watches the halftime show, anyway?)

If you attended a local community college after high school, didn’t it seem like an extension of high school?

Walking nervously to your first day of classes, your nerves were soothed when you recognized many faces from your graduating class, still running within the same social circle.  However, they didn’t seem to carry the same cache that they did when they ruled the proverbial roost.

That’s kind of how I feel about Google+.

When I began filling out my Circles, Google+ suggested I follow a lot of the same people who I currently follow on Twitter. Some of them well-known. In my experience, though, they’ve always seemed like they were locked in their own circle. If you didn’t have the street cred, you weren’t worth their time.

But since they’re considered people we should know, I decided to add them to my Circles and try to engage in dialogue.

Then I read a terrific article by Christopher Barger that opened up my eyes to the possibilities that lie within Google+.

Essentially, a new social network like this gives us the opportunity to start over and discover people who add true value to our networks, so I removed myself from the aforementioned Circles. (Don’t worry. They won’t even notice.)

The people who add value might be people you already know. Some are hidden, waiting to be discovered.

Just like community college, if you stick to the people who you are comfortable with, you’ll get by, but you’re not giving yourself an opportunity to fully realize your potential.

Of course, I still held on to some connections from my “Twitter days” because they are valuable to me. And, they talk back. But I refuse to add somebody just because they’re popular.

A lot of students use their two years of community college as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Others are just there because their friends enrolled.

This is a good question to ask yourself if you’re on the Google+ train: Am I here because everybody else is? Or do I legitimately want to be a valuable member of a community?

That answer to that question will determine your success.

The downside to social media is this idea that we must take into account every single user’s feelings before we make our thoughts known.

It’s as if pushing out a tweet that we can’t find our favorite shirt the day after tornadoes rip through Joplin, Mo. means we are indifferent to the suffering of those who are affected by the devastation.

I really don’t think humans are so naive to think this to be the case, but all it takes is one person to raise a stink about it, and it blows up into something larger.

It’s almost not fair.

I know that social media allows us a chance to think about what we’re typing before we hit send, but, just like in real life, we have weak moments; times where we need to put those words out there.

The issue I have is that it’s one strike and you’re out.

This is still a burgeoning method of communication. In five years, we might very well look back at what Twitter was and say, “Can you believe we ever held it in such high regard?”

The whole point of social media is to be social, and, in social settings, we don’t always act perfect; we often leave social gatherings wishing we wouldn’t have said something. If you’re like me, you can dwell on it for days. Weeks, even.

Now imagine that every time you open your mouth to talk, somebody reminds you of what you said.

That’s not a good feeling, but it’s a feeling we have to live with.

The social media police are here to stay.

Image borrowed from kashklick’s Flickr page.

Last week, the world witnessed how social media can further a worthy cause when a simple Facebook page was used to bring together tens of thousands of Egyptians in protest, which led to the overthrow of the country’s sitting dictator.

It was a remarkable undertaking that showed how our social networks can be the fuel for incredible change.

On the heels of Revolution 2.0, a group of concerned citizens from Detroit are trying to corral the power of the crowd to erect a statue of Robocop, and have built a Facebook page to further their “cause.” What started with a question on Mayor Bing’s Twitter page has ballooned into a full fledged effort to build something that will, as the people behind the effort suggest, spur tourism and build positive attention for the city.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of what Detroit needs, a statue of a fictional cyborg police officer is at the top of my list.

[Editor's note: Sigh.]

I think Tom Shea put it best when he tweeted:

I wish people donated to Detroit schools and arts like they donated to a big joke. #RoboCop #cmonpeople

February 10, 2011 4:49 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@tomshea

Tom Shea

We always want to use our new tools to fund the outrageous, because it’s the outlandish ideas that get our attention. But the blight and bruises on this city have always been there – why is our drive to build something new so misguided?

A Robocop statue will not draw people from miles around back to the city. But fixing broken down buildings and funding arts and education in the public schools might.

You tell me what sounds more worthy.