MySpace has begun the global beta rollout of MySpace Mail, the first major feature upgrade for the social network since the company laid off a good portion of its staff and announced that it would be focusing on innovation from here on out. And MySpace may have actually achieved something notable with this one, starting with the new user interface. It’s nice and well thought out, while also able to take advantage of some of the new capabilities that MySpace Mail has to offer.

For instance, the big selling point of the new MySpace Mail is the Mail activity stream, which summarizes all of your mail activity on your mail dashboard, or message center. This gives you a quick run down of what’s been sent to you and when, as well as real time updates as to your friends’ activity. The purpose behind the Mail activity stream is to give a continually flowing stream of accessible data points surrounding the communication threads between you and your friends.
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More on the virtual games end; Peanut Labs Media has teamed up with Outspark, the virtual playground, in order to expand the gaming options for multiplayer online games while increasing the monetization potential for both parties involved.

with a reported 5 million gamers, and a handful of commercial games, Outspark is looking to expand its overall potential as a revenue-generating virtual environment. The partnership details that Outspark will be utilizing the Peanut Labs Media monetization engine. It works by presenting surveys to users, who then earn virtual currency which can be used within the Outspark virtual environments.
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Friendster is launching a new Do It Yourself advertising option for local businesses that would like to market on the social networking site. The new DIY program is being offered through the support of ZEDO, an ad serving company for web publishers. With the inclusion of ZEDO, Friendster is looking to keep costs down and extend its advertising capabilities without having to necessarily add staff or heavily build out its own marketing infrastructure.

This is likely the best approach for Friendster, given the current economic climate and the ongoing talks of Frienster putting itself up for sale. As Friendster has witnessed firsthand the ruthless nature of social network waning in the states, the company had spent the past few years seeking and gaining success overseas. But Friendster isn’t immune to the overall shift in advertising, which has largely affected the social networking, which has been rather reliant on ads for revenue.

A necessary change in the way in which ads are displayed and served across social networks has been a point of contention for social networks for several months now, and all the major social networks have had to make adjustments internally and for their client-facing options as well.

MySpace is probably the other notable social network that’s pertinent for this particular discussion, as it has undergone some hefty restructuring with its employees, programs and partnerships to streamline its advertising program as well. And as far as Facebook goes, the necessity to continuously update and improve its DIY ads doesn’t go unnoticed. Others still, including Trulia, have been seeking out the benefits of providing a highly localized DIY marketplace for individuals and businesses that would like to advertise within a social network setting.

To that end, Friendster will need to ensure the effectiveness of its ad server, as well as easy-to-use metrics and feedback tools. Leveraging its existing social network for the purpose of an inclusive DIY ad program can really help Friendster create a self-sustaining marketplace for local businesses. Building this out in other areas for local markets will likely add value to Friendster in the end.

To start, Friendster DIY Ads will be available globally in 75+ countries, though targeted ads are only supported in the US, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. See here for more details.

Whether you’re keeping up with family members or growing your business’ brand, social media has become the center of activity for many aspects of our lives. And it’s getting hard to keep up. We’ve created a short list of helpful e books that can get you started on your path towards social media success, or help you kick things up a notch if you’re already an active member of the online social media world.

The Basics

If you’re just getting your feet wet or you’d like to learn more about the relative history of social media, check out some of the following ebooks, which cover the basics. Sometimes boiling things down to their simplest forms could give you the greatest perspective, and that never hurts when it comes to a complex phenomenon like social media.

1. What Is Social Media

This book answers one simple question: what is social media? From iCrossing, “What Is Social Media” runs down all the basics, from how social media is being used to providing definitions the ever-changing jargon that personifies social media.

2. Content Nation: Surviving and Thriving as Social Media Changes Our Work, Our Lives, and Our Future

Both broad an analytical in its approach to social media, “Content Nation” goes over the importance of social media, and how it has effectively changed our culture and the way in which we communicate with each other. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!

3. ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Yes, blogs are part of social media. With various ways in which to integrate blogs and social media, the end result is a cohesive, fluid and mobile conversation about a plethora of topics. The beauty of social media is that it enables every voice to be heard. Blogs are a great starting point to get your shout on.

4. Managing Online Forums: Everything You Need to Know to Create and Run Successful Community Discussion Boards

Forums and discussion boards are still thriving areas in which people converse about every aspect of their hearts’ desires. If you’re looking to leverage these sometimes forgotten areas of social media, then start with this book. Learning the ins and outs of forums can really help you leverage social media in the end, whether you’re profession is as a community manager or you’re eventually looking to build your personal or business brand.

5. I’m on LinkedIn–Now What??? (Second Edition): A Guide to Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the core social networks when it comes to professional networking. But a lot of people don’t know just how well they can actually network once they’re on LinkedIn. This book will help you take advantage of LinkedIn’s networking capabilities, which is increasingly important when it comes to today’s job market.

6. The Twitter Survival Guide

A primer for the most talked about social network today, this guide gives you the basics from how Twitter got so popular to what that means for you as a social networker. Setting up your profile for optimal use, proper etiquette for tweeting and examples of successful users are all part of this ebook.

Enterprise and Business

If there’s one group that has been striving to “figure out” social media, enterprise and business takes the cake. With the popularity of social media and the large virtual congregations of users within online properties, the monetization of social media has been a blessing and a curse when it comes to business and enterprise use. For those CEOs out there, here are some ebooks that might be helpful for navigating these social media waters.

7. Social Media Liabilities In The Enterprise

Yes, there are ways in which you need to caution yourself and your business when jumping into the social media pool. Make sure all your bases are covered and check out this book, which offers a very specific yet needed view of how to go about preparing your business for social media, from a conceptual and practical perspective.

8. Sales 2.0 – Leveraging Web 2.0 to Sell

Another joy of the online world is sales, direct or indirect. Social media can help you in this department, but it will take some know-how. Get the basics and then some with this book, which speaks to social media marketing and a few other aspects of online marketing. It’s a helpful look at how the various aspects of the online world create sales opportunities from which you can profit.

9. Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day

A lot of the people I speak with about social media often complain about how time consuming it is. This time obstacle is a huge barrier to entry for a lot of businesses looking to leverage social media, so whittling it down to an hour can sound very appealing. Learn a few tricks of the trade to help you better manage your time.

Social Media is a Cocktail Party

That’s right. A cocktail party. What could be more fun? Just as a cocktail party is just a dressy and intoxicating way in which to power up your networking opportunities, so too is the realm of social media. Learn how the various aspects of social media, from blogging to social networks, can be helpful when it comes to your online marketing initiatives.

11. Mom 3.0: Marketing WITH Today’s Mothers by Leveraging New Media & Technology

Mothers have long since been at the center of financial decisions when it comes to many purchases made for the family, which is why mothers have been highly targeted through marketing campaigns since the dawn of modern advertising. Things haven’t changed too much, but the channels for such marketing have been modified a tad. Learn how to target moms online, as they have been a quickly growing group of very active online users for over two years now.

12. Twitter Revolution: How Social Media and Mobile Marketing is Changing the Way We Do Business & Market Online

It’s true, Twitter has changed the face of online marketing. But as a mobile tool, Twitter has changed the face of mobile marketing as well. One of the benefits of Twitter is its ability to provide a method of mobile communication without mutual or one-sided contact information exchange, which preserves privacy and is appealing because of its opt-in attitude towards said mobile communication. Get the scoop on how Twitter is being used to push a mobile advertising revolution, so you can be ready for your next move.

The Rules of Engagement

As an evolution of sorts from the basics of enterprise and business use of social media, engagement is the buzz word of the year. Engagement is the way in which brands have found to be the most effective when it comes to online marketing. This means you’re not only leveraging the fact that people are networking about and around your brand online, but you’re interacting with them in a direct manner for important brand maintenance. Stay on top of trends by checking out some of the ebooks that have been written specifically for user engagement purposes.

13. Customer Service, The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media

One way in which to directly engage users is for customer service purposes. Through platforms such as Twitter and Facbook, the necessity of “friending” a customer is no longer necessary, opening up the lines of communication and enabling brands to communicate in a less intrusive manner. It is truly an art.

18 Rules of Community Engagement: A Guide for Building Relationships and Connecting With Customers Online

Nothing’s more straightforward than a set of rules to follow. This guide for community engagement will take you step by step through the ways in which you can not only build relationships with customers, but maintain those relationships as well. It’s this maintenance that will enhance your brand-building when it’s all said and done.

15. Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time

Twitter has become an avidly used platform for direct communication with brands and consumers, so it’s only fitting that there is a book on dominating your market in particular via Twitter. It’s rather easy to engage consumers on Twitter’s openly conversational platform, making for a great tool for monitoring their brand while engaging their customers all the while.

Earlier today LivingSocial, the Washington D.C. based social discovery network, launched their deal of the day product. The new tool let’s you find deals on local products and services that are listed in the LivingSocial network. The LivingSocial deals are currently limited to Washington D.C. but will be expanding over the coming weeks and months. Next on the list are New York City and Boston but there are many others in the pipeline.
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Marketing and strategies company Razorfish has released a report this week about brands and their success rate when it comes to online social media marketing.  The report, titled Fluent: The Razorfish Social Influence Marketing Report, mentions a survey conducted by Razorfish brought some disarming news, stating that about 33% if consumers aren’t connecting with brands online.  Razorfish identifies this group of online users as an untapped market, and as a growing opportunity for social media marketing.

In order to first outline the ways in which social media marketing is currently effecting consumer relations online, Razorfish designed the SIM Score.  Standing for Social Influence Marketing, the SIM Score breaks down various aspects of a brand’s online campaign, looking at its targeting methods, its ability to tap into certain resources such as key influencers, and other forms of social advertising in order to devise a brand’s SIM Score.  From here, a brand can gauge where they stand in the grand scheme of social media marketing.
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Networking online for professional purposes is more important than ever in this day and age, with people turning to their online networks to promote themselves and find new jobs. mySBX is a new network for professionals, with a focus on the individual.

This D.C.-based startup provides tools to connect individuals on multiple levels for their professional development. mySBX also offers tools for large and small companies alike. Below is an excerpt of an interview I had with mySBX President Jeff White, who speaks on the way in which mySBX manages to appeal to so many aspects of professional networking.
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It’s clear that Twitter has been proven as a social media marketing tool, from the success of Dell to recent reports demonstrating the usefulness of the microblogging platform. So Buddy Media, the social media company used by brands and agencies alike, has created a Twitter Management System. This lets advertisers tap into Twitter as well as analyze the subsequent data for engagement purposes.

Some of the features to be included in Buddy Media’s Twitter Management system will be the ability to measure and identify various Twitter trends around your brand, as well as the ability to track your performance and trends across your Twitter followers, other mentions, and retweets. The Twitter Management System will also track basics, such as volume and frequency of click-through rates from links posted on Twitter. Other services include the option to schedule tweets and create profiles for brand families, which breaks down to multiple-Twitter account management.
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Social game developer Playdom has marked its entry into iPhone applications with the release of Mobsters: Big Apple. It links your mobile game to your online game, which is currently on MySpace. Already a social game, Mobsters was rather popular on the MySpace network, making the new iPhone game an extension of the online game version.

That means there’s a more seamless continuation of game play for users, whether they’re online or on their iPhone. It’s a smart move, as it carries over the social and gaming aspects of Mobsters, maintaining the sociability of the game itself.
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Online marketing is something that’s been around for some time, but the past few years of social networking popularity combined with the necessity for more effective marketing has brought us into a new realm of social media marketing.

It’s been somewhat experimental, given the need for the cooperation from both social site publishers and participating brands. There’s also been the issue of metrics, which have come from site publishers as well as third party services. The result is a long-standing interim of wonderment at the effectiveness of social media marketing. But looking at companies such as Dell, Skittles, Burger King and Starbucks and it’s clear that running certain kinds of marketing campaigns on various social networks does in fact have a lasting effect. And it all boils down to engagement.
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