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Posts Tagged ‘social networks’

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Social Media Experienced Strong Growth in 2010

In Social Media on 01/16/2011 at 2:02 pm

When consumers need to find solutions, they actively seek content to find answers to their problems. It’s content that supplies those answers, in the form of text, video, audio, and social media – and consumers have almost unlimited ways to get that content. The difference today is that consumers are finding those answers coming from their peers, favorite brands and the media.

Everyone is a media company. Everyone is a publisher. If you publish online content to a blog, a microblog (Twitter), a social network, or a photo- or video-sharing site like YouTube and Flickr, you are a publisher. Today there are billion pieces of content all over the Internet. A recently released Royal Pingdom “Internet in 2010 in numbers” report demonstrates social content publishing continues to grow at a fast pace. Here are the latest social media growth numbers:

  • 152 million – the number of blogs on the Internet
  • 25 billion – the number of sent tweets on Twitter in 2010
  • 175 million – people on Twitter as of September 2010
  • 600 million – people on Facebook at the end of 2010
  • 30 billion – pieces of content (links, notes, photos, etc.) shared on Facebook per month
  • 2 billion – the number of videos watched per day on YouTube
  • 35 – hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute
  • 186 – the number of online videos the average U.S. Internet user watches per month
  • 5 billion – photos hosted by Flickr (September 2010)

Read the complete report.

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Three Riveting Startups You Should Know About

In Digital Media, Social Media on 05/21/2010 at 4:09 am

Ah, home, sweet home! It’s been a long and tiresome day, but very rewarding.  After work, I headed over to a Digital Flash NYC event that featured two Mashable panelists, a diverse set of questions from the audience, and an open bar. Hopefully, the open bar liquor had something to do with the ditzy question from the back of the room–“Why would I read Mashable? I’m interested in fashion; who is wearing what”–asked by a former teacher.  Either way, I met some amazing, new start-ups that I just couldn’t wait to write about. So here it goes…

  1. Catchafire.org connects volunteers within the areas of design, social media, advertising, legal, public relations, marketing, and others, with non-profit organizations. If you are a volunteer, you simply select your skill areas and the social cause you’d like to support, integrate your LinkedIn profile, and select a project of your choice. If you are a non-profit organization, pick a project from the project menu, and wait to see who your match is.
  2. Pixable aggregates your and your friends’ photos from multiple Web sites, including Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, SmugMug, and Photobucket into one central site and allows you to create and print photo books.
  3. EZTexting, founded in 2006, provides a simple, affordable text messaging platform for small to medium-sized businesses. The company allows businesses within the education, hospitality, religion, politics, non-profits, and technology industries to develop and execute a text messaging campaign within minutes.

What are some of the newly launched startups you’ve stumbled upon? Let me know.

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Practice safe social networking

In Social Media on 03/26/2010 at 5:32 am

Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Four Square have changed our daily lives and how we interact with others . We use them to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, find the latest news, inform our friends about our whereabouts and meet new people in a nearby area. While social networks can be essential for some like the chronically ill who depend on social networks like Facebook to maintain their connections with people, or vital in solving crimes, they also have a dangerous side. For example, Web site, pleaserobme.com shows that updating a Facebook status or using Twitter or Four Square to announce where one is located can open up new opportunities for burglars.

In Indiana, a woman reported two men burglarized her home right after she posted a Facebook update that she and her fiance are going out to a concert that evening. The most astonishing fact is that one of the burglars turned out to be her friend on the social media platform. So how can we protect ourselves on these social media platforms?

  1. Networks such as Facebook allow you to set their privacy settings and have a limited profile to a selected group of friends.
  2. Only friend or accept friendships from people you know and trust
  3. If you are using location-based networks, turn your check-ins notifications off
  4. Do not use the new Twitter location feature which can broadcast the city, the neighborhood, or your exact address from which you are tweeting.

Not only can social networks provoke robberies if not careful, but they can also victimize users through frauds and hoaxes. For example, Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner of Tour de France and his charity, Live Strong, were exploited by a Twitterer who impersonated a cancer-stricken patient in need of money to save her life. IKEA furniture store has, too, been a recent victim of a Facebook scam.  A fraudulent Facebook campaign was “run” by IKEA that promised to give its first 7,000 fans a 1,000 USD gift card if you became a fan of the Swedish company. Of course, this is not really a campaign that is run by IKEA.

The bottom line is reap the benefits of social media, but also remember to practice safe social networking.

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Applying Your Dating Etiquette to Social Media

In Social Media on 02/03/2010 at 12:52 pm

By Irina Skaya

Prior to diving into the Facebook and Twittersphere social media networks, marketers must have a strategy (goals) in the space as well as be prepared to communicate with, and listen to their fans or followers on a daily basis.  The more I think about how to best describe social network monitoring and management, the more I think how similar social media communications etiquette is to dating etiquette.  I recently stumbled upon, “Dating Etiquette and Rules to Follow” on Topdatingtips.com.  Below is a list with top five dating rules that can be as easily applied to social media in order to win over the hearts of your customers.

  • Dating should always be fun, and it’s as much your responsibility as it is your partner’s to ensure that it is. Just like dating, social media is about engaging potential consumers in conversations and building relationships with them.  And of course, social media is a dialogue, not a monologue, so the brand must actively participate in the online conversation associated with it.
  • Always show up for a date, unless you’ve given notice and let the other person know you have to cancel. Standing someone up is not acceptable. Often times, brands say, “It’s only one person who complained.  If this becomes an issue where we receive numerous complaints, then we will address it.  Otherwise, let’s just not ignite the fire.”  I am not saying a brand must respond to all of the comments fans/followers post—some are just better left alone, especially if the person seems like the type to pick a fight.  The best advice I can give is all brands must have an escalation policy in order to have set rules and guidelines about how to respond in various, “What if…” scenarios.  Nonetheless, I strongly believe that each fan/follower is equally important, and the brand must pay attention to all of its fans.
  • Always be on time, and never keep your date waiting. So now that you have an escalation policy and know when and how to respond, be sure that you post your comments in a timely manner.  Whether the fan/follower has posted a question, a compliment or a complaint, the brand should respond as quickly as possible, almost instantaneously.
  • Dress well.  In this day and age, there is absolutely no excuse for looking shabby. Dress your page up; first impressions are everything.  Customize the channel with a branded skin, logo, profile photo, etc. Put your brand “in clothing” that is unique to its character, meaning include interesting and engaging functionalities, such as games, coupons, photos, videos, etc.
  • Be a good listener, and don’t talk your date to death. Don’t just broadcast promotions and self-served information about the brand.  Listen to what your customers are interested in, learn more about them, and focus your conversations on their interests.

Follow these five tips to win over your date and your fans/followers!

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