While big businesses such as Target, Coca-Cola, and Dell are already using social media effectively, small business owners are just starting — often “because they should,” not necessarily because they have a plan for generating business leads. Other owners who do have a plan don’t necessarily know how to measure social media ROI. If you’re still learning, pick a social medium, say Twitter, and consider the tips below.
Read the rest of this entry »

With the rapid growth in the use of Twitter, there’s bound to be a growing interest in tools to analyze Twitter statistics and social graphs, even while on the go. Tweeb is the latest application to do just that, and it’s for the iPhone. Tweeb is developed by D.C.-based Ken Yarmosh and Mobomo.
Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone often talks about the great gift that Twitter has given people. No it’s not world peace but it gives us an opportunity to stay connected like never before. It also gives marketers and PR folks a chance to connect on a level not previously thought of.

Don’t get me wrong, I think these are great additions to the world; but I tend to think that Twitter has given us so much more. Here’s the most important thing Twitter has given us:
Read the rest of this entry »

Media Post is reporting that Twitter will unveil its advertising in the near future. The revelation was made by Anamitry Banerji (head of product management and monetization at Twitter) in a panel discussion with Seth Goldstein (chief executive officer and co-founder of socialmedia.com).
Read the rest of this entry »

As our social networks grow, so too does our power to spread awareness and calls for action pertaining to the causes we feel matter. The fundraising efforts of many grassroots, mass mobilization, celebrity, and other campaigns on Twitter and through text message has reached new heights with the response to the earthquake in Haiti, and other organizations are quick to see the power of the 140-character message.
Read the rest of this entry »

Consumers spent more than five and a half hours on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter in Dec, 2009, according to a report by Nielsen. The amount of time spent on social media sites has increased by 82% from the same time last year, when users only spent three hours on social media sites each day.
Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter users are now now sending 50 million tweets per day, which translates to an average of 600 tweets per second, according to new stats released Twitter.

Read the rest of this entry »

As a Canadian, last night’s Olympic Men’s Hockey loss to the United States shed some light on the new experiences that social media can bring to sporting events and rivalries.  Specifically, as I ventured post-game into the world of Twitter, I was supported by my friends’ similar reactions.  We theorized back and forth about the reasoning behind the loss from halfway across the country, and posted links and analysis that helped us understand the game.  Social media was effective in helping me connect and learn about this new experience.
Read the rest of this entry »

The home insurance premiums of Facebook and Twitter users could be raised by as much as 10%, according to a recent report. Social media and location aware services such as Facebook, Twitter, Buzz, Foursquare, Gowalla and others can alert criminals when a user is at a specific spot and not at their home.
Read the rest of this entry »

TweetPhoto, the real-time social web photo sharing platform, just announced numerous options for developers, as well a new “link account” feature that will improve user experience. Developers now have the option of client libraries for Objective-C, Java, or .Net, in addition to the previous PHP and Python options. As well, user authentication support has been added for Twitter OAuth and Facebook Connect.
Read the rest of this entry »