It's the people-driven economy, stupid!

Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Welcome to the World of Socialnomics ...

What does it all mean?

Life is change, as is marketing. While job searching, I stumbled upon some compelling, and worrisome, market research* proving we live in exponential times:

• So, you’re “one in a million”? There are 1,300 people just like you in China; 1,100 in India.
• China and India have more honors kids than we have kids. 25% of the Chinese population with the highest IQ’s is greater than the total population of North America. In India, it’s the top 28%.
• China will soon become the largest English-speaking country in the world.
• If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China, China would still have a labor surplus.
• The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38. 1 out of 4 workers today has been employed by the same company for less than one year; more than 1 out of 2 for less than five years.
• The top 10 jobs forecasted for 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. We’re preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist using technologies that haven’t been invented to solve problems we don’t know we have.
• The U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration. (Luxembourg just passed us.) The 100 million video streams watched DAILY on YouTube.com consume as much bandwidth as the entire Internet in 2000!
• There are 2.7+ billion searches on Google each month. Who did we ask B.G. (Before Google)?
• More than 3,000 new books are published, DAILY.
• The amount of new technical information doubles every 2 years and will
  double every 72 hours by 2010.
• Predictions further out than 15 years are difficult. But, by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the human race.

What does it all mean . . . to marketers?

24/7, we’re emailing, texting, IMing, blogging, forum- and wiki-posting, multi-tasking, outsourcing, ignoring print for online news, reading e-magazines, becoming virtual employees and virtual people (Second Life). Our kids are virtual junkies (Webkinz, Club Penguin with 7 times the traffic of Second Life), shopping online, conducting e-commerce via our mobile devices.
We’re guerilla reporters and videographers. Our social networking is getting niche-ier.

Our work is moving into non-ad activities such as promotions and public relations with the intent to deliver more targeted audiences. Search engine algorithms have changed, including image and video. We’re ALL about “buzz”, viral, WOM marketing.

What does it all mean?

Employee surveys (and social networks) corroborate our basic human needs to: define and redefine ourselves; be recognized for our achievements; seek and provide help to others; find and connect with others "just like me"; validate what we say and do matters.

Marketing, and life, is gridlock, noise, chaos today. So much content (relevant or not), and so little time. I have “socialnetworkitis” (who needs that many MySpace friends, anyway?).

Engagement is key. The more technologically-advanced and fast-paced we become, the more the human race craves the “human touch”, virtually or actually. Marketers beware!


* "Shift Happens", by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, http://mgblankenship.blogspot.com/2007/12/shift-happens-did-you-know.html

So What Can a Nonprofit Do With Social Networking?

Social networking is one of the most popular ways constituents connect and meet people.

Nonprofits can parlay social networking into fundraising and awareness campaigns.

Ways nonprofits can use social networking and fulfill their missions.




1. Set up group pages and individual profile (more is better; be everywhere): develop a presence on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. Link them to each other and link back to the nonprofit's website.

2. Use gadgets: such as a fundraising thermometer or the honor roll tracking tool, to create a visual representation of how well the organization is meeting its goal(s). Solicit supporters to post your gadgets themselves that create viral momentum.

3. Post bulletins: announce new tools available for use on personal webpages, such as promotional banners and news clippings. Againg, be sure reciprocal links are in place.

4. Recruit volunteers: to be social networking "ambassadors" so they can act as an additional hand reaching out to more people and enabling those people to reach out to even more potential supporters.

5. Promote: use social networking pages as another medium to communicate and promote the organization, events, campaigns, etc. and add ways that constituents can promote on their individual pages.

Consistency is key here. Share the same "face"(images, messages, etc.) in all online interactions.

Ding, dong, SEO is Dead!

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is DEAD or, at least, as a stand-alone strategy!

Now we use SEM (Search Engine Marketing) which includes the following action-oriented tactics:

• Build links
• Add backlinks
  
• Write articles and distribute
• Write press releases and distribute
• Advertise using Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Employ social networking
• Blog and comment
• Be fresh and dynamic, updating frequently
  
• Create interactive tools and widgets
• Own your own unique keyword
• Add meta tags to your webpages
  
• Learn cutting (and bleeding) edge techniques as new ones arrive on the scene every day

Gone are the early days of the web where a static brochure-like website will work for your brand. "If you build it, they will come" is not a viable strategy for the web today.

Cool Social Marketing and Media Web Tools

I e-met Cha Cha via Twitter and she has a social media blog. Click on the link above for her ever-updating list of cool tools for social networking sites.

Tell her I sent you!

Social media in moderation

Posted this Q&A on with some interesting variety of responses to follow:

How do you impress upon those in social media that moderation is key; if you're profile is on the web, everyone can see it??? Just realized my nephew (20 yo) looks like an idiot online!

A follow-up from my first post:

From Blake Imeson
"When it comes time for him to get a job and he starts to get Googled then he will realize you have to be careful about what goes online. I am around his age and I think most people are conscious of the danger to your reputation the internet can be. There are still people that are oblivious to the image they give online. Consolation is that most profiles are fairly private (Facebook for instance) and most can be set to decent standards of privacy, people just don't bother."

From Kathy (Ford) Broniecki
"As a potential employer, I purposely avoid facebook and myspace accounts of prospects. Especially those under 25 that haven't figured out that potential employers could be looking at every drunken escapade. I view this much like I view the multiple tatoos and piercings - somewhat of a right of passage. Some measure of leveling humiliation generally precedes maturity. However, I'm in the advertising industry and someone in a more conservative industry may see things differently."

From David Bird
"My final year students are similar. On a session I do on privacy, we have a good look at their googled photos. Then we have a long talk about all the privacy options available on the social networks. The other conversation we have is: would you want to work for someone who would actively exclude you from a job interview because you had a good and wild time as a student?"

From Bridget Waldron
"I would let him know that his online image is a part of his personal brand and he should be more careful of how he presents himself in person and online. In the age of You Tube, blogging, facebook etc., being overexposed has its drawbacks and more companies are paying close attention to these sites as they screen potential employees."

From Kimmo Linkama (a viewpoint from outside U.S.)
"Then again, it is really sad if you have to start seriously watching every word you say when you're hardly 20. I think this corporate interest about the quality of employees is bordering on paranoia -- and when you finally get a job, you're subjected to "voluntary" drug tests and what have you. The same paranoid watching over you all the way... There are clear cultural differences, though. My impression is that Europeans allow more foolishness than Americans. Another interesting point is that when young people start to realize they have to be on their best behavior on the internet, how many of them will knowingly create a false profile? I'm sure this is already happening. Employers should not pay a lot of attention to the more personal or intimate social media as an information source."

Social Media and Marketing, getting started

Courtesy of my friend, Lizz Gunnufsen, Public Communications Coordinator for the City of Chesapeake, here is a recap of her efforts to implement SM into her city's government:

SocialMediaGovernment



Looks like her forays into Social Media have paid off with her MANY requests to give the presentation to others.

Way to go, Lizz!

Social Media Business Marketing Plan

1. What is the goal? Prioritizing the goal(s) will help determine the proper tool(s) and to help stay on track vice diluting efforts by jumping at every networking opportunity.
   
   
2. What is the budget? While most services are free, the professional time required to be successful, according to researchers, can be as much 10 hours per week. Time has a value and must have a real, measurable ROI.
   
   
3. What is the message? The objective, obviously, is to make connections and build relationships, but the key is to find that common bond.
   
   
4. What is the next step? Make it real. Time to lead the network into the real world. Figure out how to meet outside of the web. Coffee? Picnic? Happy Hour? Dinner? An event? Take it to the next level.
   

"Social Networking" has taken over porn's top spot

Photo CreditOnline fever has everyone all atwitter. An article on Reuters highlights that Social networking sites are the "hottest attraction on the Internet", taking over the top spot long held by "porn". This is a MAJOR change in how people communicate. And, a welcome change in online users' "interests", too.

Research done by "data geek", Bill Tancer, analyzed the information of over 10 million web users, indicating that one of the major shifts in cyberspace has been a drop in the surfing of porn sites. Over the last ten years, porn searches have dropped from an all-time high of 20% of all web use.

"As social networking traffic has increased, visits to porn sites have decreased," said Tancer. Marketers take note of such an increase in social networking.

American celebra-mania is still affecting us, though, especially in the current U.S. presidential election. Web surfers are busy looking for photos of Republican VP candidate Sara Palin photoshopped in a teeny bikini or "researching" how tall is Barack Obama vice researching any real campaign issue.

Information spreads so quickly on the internet that the speed and the "need" for instant gratification predilects fact checking, too. The old adage of "just because you see something in print, it's not necessarily true" holds for online as well. Get the facts!

Now there's a business opportunity for someone: creating an online fact-filter search engine! And, I'm sure, those whose business models somehow combine porn and social networking are even happier with the survey results. They win either way.

So how popular are social networks worldwide? According to Synovate's survey, 42% of us are using social networks (like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn). The other 58% have no idea what we're talking about.

The survey was conducted over 13,000 internet users ranging from 18-65 years of age in 17 different global markets. Countries with the largest understanding of social networks? Holland 89%, Japan 71%, U.S. 70%.

Interesting factoid: on average only 26% of the users were actually using social networks. Holland 49%, United Arab Emirates 46%, Canada 44% and U.S. 40%.

Lots of people are uncomfortable giving their personal information online. Only 26% of all users surveyed , as a matter-of-fact. The highest fear rates: Serbians 71%, India 57%.

According to Synovate's Sr. VP, Bob Michaels, identity theft continues to be a major U.S. problem. Another growing issue is online defamation — posting negative and/or false information about someone online — so people are becoming more and more careful about the information they share. It's much easier to blast someone or something online if we only know you by your cleverly anonymous "handle".

So, who's most uncomfortable handing out their information? Japan and Germany both with 85%, Taiwan 83%, Canada 79%, Brazil and South Africa 77%, Poland and U.S. 70%.

And, then there are those people surveyed who think social networking is dangerous. Overall 51%. Brazilians 79%, U.S. 69% and Poland 62%.

Of interesting note, approximately 1/3rd of those surveyed claimed to be losing interest in social networking. Wonder who they are? No one I know.

The Hit Parade (media hits, that is)

John Guiniven, associate professor of corporate communication at my alma mater, James Madison University (JMU) and fellow PRSA member provided some insight into measuring PR recently in PRSA's "Tactics":

• tracking numbers of hits (media impressions) is only one part of any ROI measure of PR
• media hits don't mean much unless the right people are seeing them
• while large numbers of hits can be impressive, they're not an indicator of audience comprehension
• impact and planned outcomes are what matters and not just large quantities of output
• social media is impactful with even a few followers due to the multiplying power of this viral medium
  
• the "downwind" effect (a story starts in one media outlet and gets picked up by another and then another, etc.) should be thoroughly evaluated to determine patterns and should even be included in the PR planning process
• another important metric to include in PR measurement is how long a story stays in key media
• first impressions matter when they're lasting ones
  

Social Media and Communications Objectives

Photo credit gauravonomics


What would you add as Communications Objectives for using Social Media?

Posed this question to my online (and offline) Social Media buddies. Lorraine and Vicki tied for 1st place, IMHO. I'd like to use a blend of both in place of my Ten C's list. Edward R. Gurney, Sr. admonished my list on LinkedIn by commenting: "I think I see a few synonyms here...". sorry, Edward.

Lorraine Baker, Owner, LBEnterprises wrote:
Missy, Thanks for offering up another delightfully creative conundrum. With my trusty ”Rodale Synonym Finder” by my side – I chose to define SMO in terms that mirror the traditional song celebrating one of the earliest origins of social media communications: MOTHERS -- as in “ M is for the many things she gave me…..” Thus:

S = Synchronize
O = Opine
C = Comingle
I = Influence
A = Amplify
L = Lead

M = Mentor
E = Enlighten
D = Disseminate
I = Inspire
A = Actualize (as in: to achieve the communications
objectives of Social Media)

Lorraine Baker (aka: a fully socialized media communicator!)


Vicki Bass-DeBinion, Enterprising Sales Champion-Training Guru (San Diego) wrote:
Dare to be different...........and it fits your stipulation for 11 Communication Objectives for using S.O.C.I.A.L. M.E.D.I.A. leading to Change ;)

• Socialize
• Orchestrate
• Challenge
• Inspire
• Associate
• Learn

• Mentor
• Elaborate
• Develop
• Intellectual
• Assist

Cheers! Vicki Bass-DeBinion ALL Invites Welcomed!!


Here are some of the others I received and all have their particular merits:

Justin Whitaker, Assistant Vice President at State Street Corporation wrote:
Connect-You connect to people via Social Networks.
Converse-You converse with them.
Community-You turn them into a community.
Collaborate-You collaborate with them to make your community/product/offering better.
Change-You change your business, your products, and the perception of them, and change the world.


Cliff Bryant, Director of Marketing at Physicians for Peace wrote:
... Achieve!


Robin Croft, Principal Lecturer at University of Glamorgan, UK wrote:
I would limit myself to learning: about how the new media are evolving, and how users are using the channels. Social Media are virtual word of mouth platforms - organizations need to understand what is being said about them instead of merely trying to influence the exchanges. Modern audiences are media-savvy and social media are popular because they develop authentic relationships. If you start segmenting, targeting and positioning and you will soon alienate your customers and then the very platforms you were trying to exploit will be used against you.

Credibility, creativity, integrity what about these?


Jean Shields Fleming, Award-winning content strategist wrote:
Confide, confront, confabulate, and to break out of the C category, amuse, inform, and express.


Sheila Powell, Director at Old Dominion University's Executive Development Center wrote:
Missy, Catalyst comes to mind, but that is very close to change. Perhaps champion i.e. take the lead, support etc. I'll keep working on it.


Ken Rochon, CEO of AbsoluteEntertainment.com, DJ Mixologist, Linguist absolutemixer@aol.com wrote:
We will have the forum up on PN very soon. I would like you to ask this question there too.
1. Reach
2. Ease of use
3. Ease of search
4. Ease of communication
5. Google friendly
6. Education oriented "Q&A", blogs, articles, etc.
7. Unique complimenting platforms, radio, face-to-face, seminars
8. Price
9. Benefits given at a great ROE
10. High Quality Community (There is another "C" - Community.
11. Interesting to stay on
12. Growth, site is continually growing in quality and quantity
13. You can learn something from the people on the site.


Jelise Ballon, Marketing Manager at Dimension Data wrote:
What about building your brand?


Cindy Huffman, Freelance writer/editor at Ad Concepts and Copy wrote:
Interesting question! My thoughts:
Consulting others' opinions and expertise
Civility in all correspondence
Conversation - make it a two-way street for optimum benefit to all
Consideration of other viewpoints
Creativity where possible (an option, not a necessity here)


Teri Sawers, Owner, Communications Insights wrote:
Missy, You need the one that starts with L there too. Listen. To what the community is saying and what you listen and learn, when not actively participating.


Vic Beck, Strategic Communications / Public Relations wrote:
Bottom line: It's really about informing and/or influencing someone -- just like many other communication channels.


Gail Kent, ABC, Managing Director, The Buzz Factory, a boutique PR/marketing firm in Hampton Roads, VA wrote:
Contribute to the discussion.
Clarify your position.
Celebrate different opinions.
Chat with friends and acquaintainces.
Check out the competition.
Links: http://theprbuzz.com and www.HRMediaConnectionz.com.


Laurel Phelps LaFlamme, Online Advertising, Internet Marketing and PR Consultant wrote:
These are all good suggestions. I think Gail "nailed" it. You must keep tabs on the competition. "-- It's an open form of eavesdropping-- You can get both sides of conversation AND expand your network". I would add: comment carefully and with courtesy. Remember that anything written and published online can come back to haunt you if written thoughtlessly or with malicious intent.
Links: www.seroundtable.com


Check these visual representations of this Social Media conversation:

• Social Media Landscape Photo credit (CC) Vincenzo Cosenza
• A very cool Twitter Poster (beta) showing in weighted format who is "most followed". I see that I follow a few of these gurus!
• Check out The Conversation Prism, too.
• What People Do Online (great graphic depiction by age group for targeted marketing!) Photo credit robinhamman From Business Week

Personal Branding

Chris Brogan just sent me his Free eBook on Personal Branding. Ok, he sent it to everyone who subscribes to his blog, but, hey, he's sharing, and I like what he has to say!

Check it out!

Social Media and Youth, just realized my nephew looks like an idiot online

"What, if anything, are kids/young adults taught in grade school/high school and/or college re: online profiles and social media such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.? What if you found out that your college-age nephew, who is slated to take over the family business after college, looks like a total idiot online. How do we teach our upcoming "young professionals" that posting pics of themselves in nothing but a diaper at Halloween is just not appropriate? I'd be interested to hear from those in the education profession, too."

I posted this question on LinkedIn and to my peers on Help A Reporter Out, generating some great responses. Here was the winner IMO and excerpts from some of the others:

Michael Merrick Crooks

• The mere fact that you must say something to some people is an indication that your breath will be wasted. At which point you are better off saying nothing.
• Social media = Darwin's Theory of Natural Cyber Selection in which the dregs of the employment pool will drown themselves and float to the top making it easy to spot the one's worth hiring. They'll be the ones with their head above water.
• Basically, Social Media is the new-age gene pool test. But unlike the past where Darwin Awards winners would actually kill themselves ... nowadays they simply shoot themselves in the foot.

Other excerpts:

• I'm a French teacher in Belgium and I believe that the best way of teaching teenagers about dangers of the web is presenting them with stories about what people did live through after putting such material online. Just stories, not trying to convince them any other way. They have to think about it and you can't make people think.
  Pieter Jansegers http://frenchteachers.ning.com
  
  
• In my college experience, we were constantly taught that future employers, as well as current professors, would be looking at our online profiles. We were often reminded to remove anything we wouldn't want employers to see. This subject was discussed by many professors in class and employers at job fairs/information sessions, and the school sent several emails about it as well.
  Christine Stoddard http://momcentral.com
  
  
• “Don’t Let Facebook Kill Your Career!" “What is viewable to your sorority sisters, drinking buddies and family can often be seen by potential and current employers. This can cost you a dream job or that big promotion. With the job market so tight and information so widely available, more and more employers are either checking up on, or screening applicants using the Internet. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace give employers a snapshot into the kind of person who might be walking into their office. You won’t find this kind of information on a resume. The question becomes, ‘Do you want this person working for you?’ We strongly suggest that our applicants ‘clean’ up their profiles or make their postings private in order to present the best possible face for potential employers.”
  Here are 3 sample tips:
  
  • The Early Bird. Start the process early. If you are just establishing your online identity use caution. Imagine if your grandmother logged on and viewed your profile. What you feel embarrassed? Ashamed? If so, ask yourself if you are posting the best representation of yourself.
  • Management Track. Ok. It's too late to start over - your business is already out there! What can you do? First, clean up everything you can and then make anything personal "private".
  • Picture Perfect. A picture paints a thousand words. If you are a party, watch out who is taking pictures and how they might make you look. Remember, you can watch what you post but other people can post too - and you don't get to edit. Keep the lampshade off your head and your clothes on!
  Cyndi Nieto, CEO, Elite Placement Group, Inc., she has been an expert for BusinessWeek magazine, Entrepreneur magazine and USA Today among others.
  
  
• It hasn’t taken long for employers to realize that Facebook and MySpace are a great way to find out more about potential candidates beyond what’s included in the typical resume. Unfortunately for some job seekers, this may mean finding out how many beers they bonged in Acapulco.
  
  That’s what Toni McLawhorn, director of career services at Roanoke College in Virginia, saw when she signed up for Facebook to see what the fuss was about. “Some were not bad at all, but other profiles were bizarre; just things that you would not want an employer to see,” she says. “Even though they might not be illegal, they might not give the best picture of you.”
  
  Students don’t generally think about how their profiles might affect future career choices, say career services directors. The idea of employers and the public using Facebook as a hiring tool has blindsided many students.“Their own sense of their world and who they’re connecting with may not include those entities [employers],” says Dale Austin, director of career services at Michigan’s Hope College. “Then when they find out they had access to it they think, ‘Oh my God what’s happened!’”
  
  “These sites give the illusion of privacy, but that is all that it is – an illusion,” says Gary Wipperman, CIO and director of information technology systems at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. “Information from these sites can be used by potential employers to make hiring decisions, by law enforcement in investigations and by others with less justifiable intentions.”
  
  So, what should students do to make sure their Facebook profile doesn’t ruin their chances of getting hired? For starters, members should clean them up, and to keep private information private. “A good rule of thumb is to not put anything on there that you would not want to show your own grandmother,” says Austin.
  
  Students can change their privacy settings in Facebook so that only their friends – rather than everyone – can see their profile. They should also exclude faculty, grads and alumni from seeing their profile until their job search is over.
  
  Doug Hamilton, director of career counseling at Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Ala., suggests using Facebook as a way to network with other students for employment leads and ideas. “One student placed a Career Services link on their profile,” he says. “We are not preaching to not use Facebook but to always put your best face forward.”
  Laura Snyder, Dick Jones Communications
  
  
• They want everything in real time, but what toll will this take? Because information is available immediately, young adults don’t always think ahead- including what they post on their online profiles.
  
  They are used to collaborating online and generating personal information for strangers. The workplace is showing the strains of the tools as well: Can you make a good decision on a Blackberry screen? What are the positives and negatives of keeping an online profile updated with personal info- is there really privacy anymore? For students especially, there’s information overload and they practically have the internet in their pocket! Now, when kids get an assignment to do a paper on the Civil War, they spend hours online doing the research—almost too much information. They need to learn how to narrow things down. Like an uncensored online profile, they also have to learn to step back before they push send. Instead of the “drunken 3 am phone call when you get home”, teens today are sending messages instantly while still at the party!
  
  If we ask a family today what is education? The responses are:
  
  • Mom-“What You Know”
  • Dad-“Who You Know”
  • Kids- “How to know where to go when you need to know” (Relying strongly on the internet)
    
    
  *From a PEW Research Report: The smart person in the information age will know which media to use when
  • 96% of all students who have access to the Internet use social networking: chat, text messaging, blogging, visiting online communities
  • 71% use social networking sites at least weekly
  • 41% post comments on message boards every week
  • 9% upload video of their own creation at least weekly
  • 25% update their personal Web site or online profiles at least weekly
  • 30% report having their own blogs
  Staci Weiner, http://www.schwartz.com/
  Liz Hamburg, COO, ApplyWise.com
  
  
• I’m a 24 year old communications professional – I graduated college less than 2 years ago. Facebook first premiered when I was a junior (I already had a MySpace page at that point). Here are some of the warnings I received while in school: Many of my professors warned that recruiters and HR managers were looking at social networking profiles before bringing in potential interview candidates. We were warned to keep our photos professional and our profiles private (viewable only to our friends, or our networks).
  
  Yet, as my internship coordinator pointed out, even private profiles weren’t 100% safe. As an example, let’s say I’m about to graduate Marist College – I have a Facebook profile, but it’s set to private. I apply for a job at Company X, which happens to have several low-level, recently graduated staffers who also graduated from Marist. Since we are on the same ‘network’ on Facebook (the Marist network), these staffers at Company X would still be able to see my private profile.
  Rob Gedarovich, Account Executive, CreativePartners.com
  
  
• I really appreciated your request today because I spend a large percentage of my FLIPPING BURGERS AND BEYOND blog posts on this subject of being very careful of a young person's image on the internet. Here's one such blog post.
  
  In fact, the "rising sophomore" of the above blog post is someone who cares very much about his image, very much believes in what I've taught him (there's a post about his appreciation of what I taught him), and yet when I told him to take the idiotic picture off his Facebook profile, his response to me was, "But I thought Facebook was only for social networking." I then wrote the above post to make sure he got what I meant.
  Phyllis Zimbler Miller, www.flippingburgersandbeyond.blogspot.com
  
  
• I am a 25 year old marketing professional. I recently graduated from Penn State, with a degree in corporate communication, and many of my professors, as well as the career counselor, emphasized the importance of online profiles. Now that employers can Google an applicant, and see exactly how drunk you were last weekend via your MySpace profile, they wanted to be sure that we understood how important these online profiles have become in the workplace.
  
  I frequently Google myself (even more so when I'm in the midst of a job search), just so I can be sure that I am in control of what comes up. If you Google me now, I believe that only my Jobster profile shows up. It notes my interests, my location, and my previous positions. It's almost like a resume back-up, confimring that I am really what I say I am.
  
  I do have a Facebook profile, as well as a MySpace profile. The Facbook profile is mainly professional, with some "fun" things thrown in: a "flair" application, a garden, some old photos from high school. The MySpace profile is completely private, and is un-searchable. While it is appropriate for employers, some of my friends' profiles may not be, and I don't want that to influence someone's decision about ME.
  Megan D. Rothman
  
  
• I wanted to pass along some information from the recently-released Cox Tween Internet Safety Survey. This will give you some good background information about what tweens are up to these days online.
  Key findings from the Cox Tween Internet Safety Survey are:
  • Ninety percent of tweens report having used the Internet by nine years-old.
  • Tweens online presence doubles or even triples between the ages of eight to ten and eleven to twelve.
  • Thirty-four percent of eleven and twelve year-olds have a profile on a social networking site. Tweens with social networking profiles post more personal information online.
  • More than one in five tweens post information about themselves online, including pictures, the city they live in and how old they are. Twenty-seven percent of tweens ages eleven to twelve admit to posting a fake age online
  • Twenty-eight percent of tweens have been contacted over the Internet by someone they don’t know.
  • The percentage of tweens that tell parents “a lot” or “everything” they do online drops rapidly with age. Only sixty-nine percent of eleven to twelve year-olds tell Mom and Dad a lot/everything versus eighty-six percent of eight year-olds to ten year-olds.
  • Of tweens who have been contacted online by someone they don't know (twenty-eight percent), eighteen percent keep the messages to themselves, and eleven percent have chatted with the unknown person.
  Todd DeFeo, Account Executive, Weber Shandwick Worldwide
  
  
• Feel free to use information from the following links at my blog:
  http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/solutions_to_grow_your_bu/2008/07/everything-you.html
  http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/solutions_to_grow_your_bu/2008/06/can-b2b-marketi.html
  Lewis Green, Chief Communications Officer and Founder, L&G Business Solutions
  
  
• My daughter says she is smart enough not to post embarrassing stuff about herself, but there is not much she can do if her cellphone-camera-wielding buds post their embarrassing thoughts andphotos of her. I think that the opposition-research teams of the presidential campaign of 2040 (and beyond) are going to have plenty to work with. And, Photoshop manipulations to create new realities in the Facebook photos can add to the mix, also.
  Miles Abernathy, http://399Retouch.com
  
  
• As an educator, I use some social media in my high school biology class and also have much discussion on what it all means. I am also a group of educators who are working on digital citizenship curriculum to help with this. Rather than block the use of social media in classrooms, we believe the only way to teach students the best use of them is to use them well.
  Louise Maine, http://hurricanemaine.blogspot.com
  
  
• I work with an independent college consultant who helps high schoolers select colleges and work through the college admission process. The subject of social media profiles is of growing interest to college admission counselors across the country, and what kids do with their profiles can affect the college selection process.
  Wendy Carver-Herbert, President, Carver-Communications, Inc.

10 communications objectives for using social media

	We just love lists, don't we? Chris Brogan posed an interesting question on his blog as to what we considered the top communications objectives for using social media, eliciting a multitude of responses.
This is my list of Top Ten Social Media Objectives (SMO):	1. Communicate. 2. Collaborate. 3. Connect. 4. Create. 5. Consider. 6. Cooperate. 7. Compare. 8. Converse. 9. Compel. 10. Confide.

All leading to the big “C”: CHANGE. Ok, make mine a list of 11 communications objectives for using social media.


I'll post this query on LinkedIn; my other "list" questions have been well-received. So, we'll see what responses this one generates.

Social Media Examined: A Flashy Facebook Page, at a Cost to Privacy

Important reprint/food for thought, article no longer available online...

From http://www.washingtonpost.com
By Kim Hart,Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Facebook fanatics who have covered their profiles on the popular social networking site with silly games and quirky trivia quizzes may be unknowingly giving a host of strangers an intimate peek at their lives.

Those mini-programs, called widgets or applications, allow users to personalize their pages and connect with friends and acquaintances. But they could pose privacy risks. Some security researchers warn that developers of the software have assembled too much information -- home town, schools attended, employment history -- and can use the data in ways that could harm or annoy users.

"Everything requires you to give access to personal information or it forces you to ask your friends to do the same -- it becomes a real nuisance," said David Dixon, 40, an information technology consultant in Columbia who recently deleted most of the applications he had downloaded to his Facebook profile after reading on a blog that developers may have access to his information. "Why does a Sudoku puzzle have to know I have two kids? Why does a postcard need to know where I went to college?"

Even private profiles, in which personal details are available only to specific friends, reveal personal information, said Chris Soghoian, a cyber-security researcher at Indiana University. And they're allowing access to their friends' information -- even if their friends are not using the application. That's because MySpace and Facebook, the largest online social networks, let outside developers see a member's information when they add a program.

"You want to be social with your friends, but now you're giving 20 guys you've never met vast amounts of information from your profile," he said. "That should be troubling to people."

A year ago, Facebook started allowing outside developers to create small software programs for members to download. Since then, the company said, about 24,000 applications have been built by 400,000 developers. They've become enormously popular, with users playing poker, getting daily horoscopes and sending one another virtual cocktails, to name a few. More than 95 percent of Facebook users have installed at least one application, the company said.

Applications have grown so much that venture-capital firms have formed exclusively to fund their development, and there is a Stanford University course devoted to creating them.
In February, MySpace also opened up to developers. It has more than 1,000 applications. The company, along with other social networks such as Hi5 and AOL's Bebo, allows applications under OpenSocial, a Google-led initiative that lets developers distribute games and other programs across multiple social networks.

Each site has come up with its own policies on the data that developers are allowed to see. MySpace, the largest social network, with 110 million members, said developers can see users' public details -- name, profile picture and friend lists -- when they download a program. When a user installs one on Facebook, which has 70 million members, the developer can see everything in a profile except contact information, as well as friends' profiles. Members can limit what is seen by changing privacy controls, and both companies say developers are allowed to keep those data for only 24 hours.

Developers can collect other data from members once they've download the applications.
Ben Ling, director of Facebook's platform, said that developers are not allowed to share data with advertisers but that they can use it to tailor features to users. Facebook now removes applications that abuse user data by, for example, forcing members to invite all of their friends before they can use it.

"When we find out people have violated that policy, there is swift enforcement," he said.

But it is often difficult to tell when developers are breaking the rules by, for example, storing members' data for more than 24 hours, said Adrienne Felt, who recently studied Facebook security at the University of Virginia.

She examined 150 of the most popular Facebook applications to find out how much data could be gathered. Her research, which was presented at a privacy conference last month, found that about 90 percent of the applications have unnecessary access to private data.

"Once the information is on a third-party server, Facebook can't do anything about it," she said. Developers can use it to provide targeted ads based on a member's gender, age or relationship status.

Consumer advocates have voiced concerns over how software developers are using such data. The Center for Digital Democracy is urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into the privacy policies surrounding third-party applications.

Some developers acknowledge the value of the data at their fingertips but say they're careful not to abuse it.

"We don't care who their favorite musicians are, and we're not looking at their pictures," said Dan Goodman, co-founder of Loladex, an application that lets users find friend-recommended businesses, such as plumbers and pizzerias. Loladex does keep track of user-provided data, such as Zip codes.

Goodman said he hasn't ruled out using the data for targeted advertising, but "we're not trying to push the privacy envelope."

Hungry Machine, based in Georgetown, has created 25 Facebook applications, including programs that let users recommend movies, books and music.

"Leveraging that data would make a lot of sense," said Tim O'Shaughnessy, a co-founder of the company. But he said no plans are in the works.

Slide, which designed three of the most popular Facebook applications -- SuperPoke, FunWall and Top Friends -- said it uses personal details only to make applications more relevant to users. For example, Slide collects friends' birthdays so it can remind you to "poke" them on the right day.

Many Facebook users don't mind using the tools to express themselves. Gabby Jordan of Baltimore uses the Flirtable and Pimp Wars programs to connect with friends.

"If there are too many, you could easily delete them off your profile and not have to worry about it," she wrote in an e-mail.

But revealing information on quizzes or maps of places visited, for instance, may also make it easier for strangers to piece together tidbits to create larger security threats, said Alessandro Acquisti, assistant professor of public policy and information systems at Carnegie Mellon University.

Some online activities ask users to list pets' names or to display their high school's mascot, answers to common security questions asked by financial companies.

"Nowadays, some people have downloaded so many [applications], it's a constant flow of information about what they've done, what they're doing, which can be mined by your friends and also by someone you don't know anything about," he said.

###

Next, I'll address Social Media Examined: Youth and Their Online Profiles

Social Media, NextGen, Best Practices from the experts

Next Generation Social Marketing

view presentation (tags: social marketing media health)

Social network websites: best practices from leading services

view presentation (tags: web2.0 socialplatform community matchmaking)

Social Media

view presentation (tags: web2.0 social media internet)

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Why People Participate in Social Media?

What drives people to participate in social activity online? THAT is the question...

The reasons are varied, as varied as the participants themselves. Here's my short list. Care to add yours?

1. Need to make business connections: enough said, this is basic networking, albeit online

2. Need to connect with old friends: keeping up friendships, connecting with people you know, to find out what's up with them

3. Need to make new friends: according to surveys, one in five online singles has viewed or participated in online dating in the past year; marriage statistics last year put newlyweds meeting online at a rate of 12-12.5% (that's 1 in 8!); that's a lot of new friends

4. Need to please others: yes, succumbing to pressure to participate in anything from your peers is still around, it's just found a new face (facebook, that is)

5. Need to help others: paying it forward, contributing in any way possible, it's an altruistic impulse; it's what made Wikipedia possible

6. Need for lust: some social networking is basically an endless parade of exhibitionism and hedonism

7. Need for a creative outlet: are you a photographer, writer, or videographer? the Web is the perfect place to show off your skills

8. Need for validation: people who post information like to be seen as knowledgeable experts

9. Need to connect within similar interests: whether it's a bowling league, a school, or your fellow baseball team fans, what better way than to share interests by connecting online


Not everyone wants the same things within social networking. What's your reason?

SlideShare.net - new Web 2.0 tool for creative file sharing

Found this great FREE tool thanks to the G4.tv Attack of the Show podcast I listen to which is focused on Web Tools.

Think YouTube for PowerPoint and PDF files. You can check mine out here:

View Upload your own

Blogs and Social Networks Foster Internet Growth

Recently published in the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's Measurement and Metrics Research Blog:

Blogs and Social Networks Foster Internet Growth
While the growth in the number of visitors to the biggest brand sites has slowed, traffic to newer sites built around user participation has soared, according to comScore analysis of recent online traffic data. Between February 2005 and February 2006, monthly visitors to these sites rose dramatically. Ranked from the most to least, the sites growing the most were:

1. Blogger.com
2. Myspace.com
3. Wikipedia.org
4. Citysearch.com

Check out the full article in the Washington Post.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing Andy Sernovitz, the CEO of WOMMA , speak at the ASAE Membership & Marketing Conference. Check out their website for archives of presentations.