Courtesy of admixsocial.com

Latest Facebook News

In the latest social media news on Facebook, the prolific social team is going to be introducing hashtags to the platform. Like their competitor Twitter, Facebook is desperately searching for easier ways of indexing huge amounts of content. Luckily, the hashtag is used in several other places, and doesn’t uniquely belong to Twitter.

Courtesy of facebook.com

This social media news has delighted some Facebook fans, and outraged others. A Facebook spokesperson mentioned that these hashtags would be used to group conversations. So look forward to many Facebook conversations in the future, with added hashtags in there for emotional meaning. #Justanotherfacebookfail?

What’s Going on With Pinterest?

Finally, a shiny new analytics tool was released on Pinterest recently, which is definitely a positive improvement for business page owners. Social media news like this is always good, as it’s important to keep track of your daily marketing stats and data. You’ll be able to see how many people have pinned your content, clicks, impressions, views and more.

Business owners will be scrambling to integrate this new on-page tool into their weekly data analyses, so that they can get more followers and leads.

LinkedIn Changes to Note

LinkedIn has made a bold move to buy a new app, called Pulse. It’s a news reading app that already has 20 million users – no small amount. Social media news sites were brimming with speculation about this unconfirmed rumor – and LinkedIn is staying tight-lipped about it. The app recommends certain content to you based on your activity and likes.

Courtesy of venturebeat.com

If LinkedIn is looking to extend the media side of their business, then Pulse would be a great buy. We’ll have to wait and see if the business network giant closes the deal.

Twitter Updates of Importance

Twitter Vine continues to be the leader in the field of 6 second looping video clips. While competitors like Cinemagram, Viddy and Socialcam have started to decline – Vine continues to grow thanks to Twitter’s social context. Social media news like this proves that certain apps can only survive in the long term market, when they have a solid user base.

Courtesy of mashable.com

Google Evolves a Little More

Google decided to kill the Google reader this past week, which has caused an absolute uproar with the social community. People seem to like the reader that Google has decided to shut down, they’ve even signed a petition to save it. It doesn’t seem as though this social media news has made Google change their minds. They’re still going to stop the service.

Do you have an opinion to express about the latest social media news, you’ve read here on SMMU? Tell me about it!

Courtesy of marketingtechblog.com

The Internet is Ruled By Bloggers

In Chris’s social media news post, he begins by detailing how many business owners are afraid of actually approaching bloggers for help. It’s true that many horror stories exist on the subject, but in my opinion, there are far more success stories online.

If you want a social media news blogger to blog for you, on your blog – then you have to learn about the three ‘E’s’ of blogging.

Bloggers can’t resist the 3 E’s, and if you can provide this for them – they’ll quickly contribute to your monthly blog posts.

The 3 E’s are: Equality, Exposure and Equity.

Equality: Bloggers don’t want to be treated like employees. They want to be treated like friends, or colleagues. That means being honest with them, being fair and not taking it for granted when they contribute to your blog.

Exposure: Bloggers definitely look for blogs that will help them extend their own personal reputation and reach. In the social media news niche for example, there are always bloggers waiting for a good partner site to publish on. Make sure your site is worthy and busy.

Equity: Perhaps above all, bloggers want to be treated as professionals, or like the experts they are. Give them an author’s credit, and go above and beyond to include them in your other articles. All of it will help you build a successful relationship with them.

Chris Abraham on What NOT To Do

On the other hand, if you’re looking to get your post published on a top blog – Chris has some great advice for you. This is hot social media news so listen up!

Courtesy of publicrelationsblogger.com

• Never incorrectly address the blogger. Chris often gets people calling him ‘blogger’ or ‘Abraham’ which tells Chris one of 2 things – a) They can’t be bothered finding out who he is, and b) They don’t really care about his blog. DENIED.
• The ‘I read your blog all the time’ LIE. It’s easy to tell who is sucking up, because they complement you in a really general way, or about something very recent. This proves they are only out to flatter. Avoid it says social media news buff, Chris.
• Don’t forget bloggers are REAL people. They can tell that your formatting is wrong, and that you are copying and pasting your requests to hundreds of blogs – in the hopes of landing just one. DENIED.

Chris Abraham goes on to remind us that bloggers can see through people that aren’t sincere in their pitch. If you’re going to truly approach a blogger for social media news for example, to ask to have your post published on their blog, do yourself a favor and DO the homework!

Courtesy of socialmedia.biz

• Find out who they are, and what they do
• Read more than 10 of their blog posts
• Link to their blog, so that they know your name before you ask
• Follow their social pages, and share for them
• Don’t beg, flatter or be insincere
• Bloggers usually have above-average intelligence and they HATE spammers

Use this excellent social media news from Chris Abraham to improve your chances of getting your posts published. Blog outreach programs can be tricky, but if you do them right, there’s no limit to how many influential friends you can make!

Read Chris’s original post here!

Are your blog pitches turned down often? Do you turn many pitches down? Tell me why!

ATLANTA, Ga. – Social Media Marketing University (SMMU), a leader in social media training, was named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the Best Training Site category in the 9th Annual International Business Awards on August 15. Entries were received from more than 50 nations and territories, and more than 300 executives worldwide participated in the judging process.

In addition to the International Business Awards, SMMU has been recognized by The Mashable Awards, Forbes magazine’s America’s Most Promising Companies campaign and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG).

SMMU first launched in 2009. Since then, the e-learning firm has provided social media and online marketing training to more than 85,000 entrepreneurs and business professionals around the world. SMMU currently offers 12 comprehensive course modules, certification for experienced or aspiring social media strategists and weekly professional development webinars.

“This award further validates our commitment to helping businesses increase visibility and revenue by providing them with the most comprehensive social media training available,” said John Souza, founder and chief strategist of SMMU. “It’s an honor to be recognized alongside such well-respected industry leaders as SAP, Siemens, Accenture, Fiat-Chrysler and InterContinental Hotels Group.”

This year’s International Business Awards will be presented at a gala event at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, October 15, 2012.

To learn more about SMMU and its award-winning social media training program, visit www.smmu.com.

To interview John Souza, or inquire about speaking engagements or guest blogs and columns, contact Ty Mays at (770) 256-8710 or [email protected]. Souza is available for interviews and guest blogs or columns and is available to provide commentary on social media trends, best practices and crises, and the impact of social media on breaking news stories.

About Social Media Marketing University

Social Media Marketing University (SMMU) is the world’s most trusted social media training program. Courses are taught by some of the world’s foremost authorities on social media and online marketing best practices, and the social media course curriculum includes interactive sessions and instruction on social media strategy, platforms and tools.

The program currently boasts nearly 3,000 graduates, and more than 85,000 business owners and business professionals have attended SMMU’s social media webinars. For more information, visit www.smmu.com.

Courtesy of smunplugged.com

A Modern Disappearing Act

According to Forbes – the internet has gone through 3 generations. Each generation seems to replace the next, at least enough to diminish the original technology a fair bit. They use Myspace as an example. While Myspace was one of the first social media sites, it was eventually outclassed by more innovative sites, and was completely overshadowed by them.

The 3 generations have been: The Web 1.0 companies like Google, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay, who all rose to fame between 1994 and 2001. The second generation was web 2.0 – companies like Facebook and LinkedIn that came to power between 2002-2009. Now, with the latest generation upon us ‘the mobile era’ – we’re seeing sites like Instagram climb to the top.

That’s 3 generations – with vast differences between them. As the Forbes article states – each generation before the last, can’t seem to move forward, or ‘wrap its head’ around the next evolutionary stage on the internet. For example – Google, try as they might – hasn’t been able to succeed with social media. We’ve seen this in the repeated failures ultimately culminating in the Google+ debacle.

The Evolving Times

Now that everything’s ‘gone mobile’ experts are predicting that Facebook and other social sites like LinkedIn are going to experience a steady decline. ‘The web is dead’ they say. Forbes says in a few years’ time – Facebook and Google might be gone completely. This is a controversial statement – but I’m afraid it’s also completely unfounded.

What Will Actually Happen

Google isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Facebook. What will happen, is that these sites will adapt to the new mobile generation, by buying into it. They will expand by evolving into mobile driven platforms. I honestly don’t think mobile will ever replace the desktop internet. The screens are too small, and that diminishes the fun you can have while online.

While tablets and iPads will drive the ‘mobile field’ the online sites attracting the most attention will stay the same. Facebook will morph into something better. Google will probably continue to lead the way in search. To suggest that mobile sites like ‘Instagram’ will replace the popularity of the originals is short-sighted.

Perhaps in 20 years these companies will be something very different. Google might own the market on augmented reality, real-world social glasses for example, that communicate with you as you walk. It sounds futuristic, but they’ve already announced the patent and prototype. Far from disappearing, I think Google and Facebook will continue to be 2 giant leaders in our fledgling social society.

I agree with Forbes that investing in the mobile field is the right thing to do – but I certainly don’t see the social giants shrinking away from change anytime soon. This we’ve seen in Facebook’s continued evolution, and Google’s compulsive attempts at change.

What do you think? Will Facebook and Google disappear in a few years’ time because of mobile technology?

Courtesy of Stuart McKeown

Farewell To Steve Jobs

Perhaps the most shocking news to hit the virtual stands this October, was the untimely death of Apple icon, Steve Jobs. Known best as an innovator, inventor and ardent futurist – Jobs died at the age of 56, from cancer related treatment. The outpouring of sympathy and tributes online were global, and just recently he was dubbed as the ‘Princess Diana of the Internet.’

Steve was the man responsible for the creation of the iPod, the iPad and the iPhone, not to mention the graphical user interface. He was also the reason the hit movie ‘Toy Story’ was filmed. All we can say here at SMMU is thank you Steve. The loss of such a visionary is a deep wound for the tech world.

Marketing Directors Struggle With Data

In another big story this month, data was released about the way marketing directors, officers and department heads feel about social media. It turns out, many of them are overwhelmed by the constant barrage of information coming at them from sites like Twitter and Facebook. Quote of the day – “The perfect solution is to serve each customer individually. The problem? There are 7 billion of them.”

This story links up with the ever increasing power that customers have over our businesses. It will be interesting to see how customer service departments handle this influx in the future. Perhaps we need an inventor like Steve Jobs to come up with a way for departments to process such high volumes of information, and then respond to each accurately.

Mashable Gains Clout, and Social Change

Early this October a story broke about Pete Cashmore and his meteoric rise to power with his social news site, Mashable. It detailed how important sites like Mashable are in steering the online conversation towards social good, and positive social change, both on and offline. In light of many instances over the past few months, of social media playing a role in violence – this is clearly a step in the right direction.

The question remains – will the Pete Cashmore’s of the social media world, replace the old media giants like Rupert Murdoch? The circulation and availability of information is where all social power lies. We could be ushering in a new digital age of online news syndication that destroys print media. At the front? Pete Cashmore.

Those are the top stories of this month, but the month isn’t over. We’ll try and keep you updated on interesting bits of news as it happens, over the next few months. Stay tuned, bookmark this page, subscribe to our RSS feed. You won’t want to miss it!

Heard of a news story that isn’t here? Leave a comment below and we’ll investigate.

Register for free here

Courtesy of wefirstbranding.com

“Few understand the power of brands and consumers better than Simon Mainwaring. In ‘We First’ he presents a truly compelling vision of how to transform that power to the benefit of society and the good of capitalism.” – Jeff Jarvis, What Would Google Do?

Simon Mainwaring is no stranger to branding and social media. His theories on social media in a global context are inspiring and, best of all, useable. That’s why we’re really excited about this opportunity to bring this discussion to you – our readers – for free. All you have to do is register. Now let’s get something straight. This webinar is going to open your mind to new ideas, and get those marketing muscles of yours ready to tackle your own brand on your social platforms.

In Simon’s book, he challenges business leaders to examine social media, consumer behavior and the potential businesses have to create a better world in new ways. Our students are very fortunate to hear from such an authority on the subject. You can be a student too – even if it’s just to hear this one paramount webinar.

Simon’s not just a best selling author you know, he’s also a top notch blogger for Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post, Mashable and Good Magazine. Plus he owns a dynamic social branding consultancy, does public speaking at A-list events, and still finds time to pop around online educating people. The webinar is a must see!

If you haven’t already done it – register now!

Courtesy of connectnow.com.au

Simon Mainwaring will be sharing key insights and revelations from ‘We First’ and will be proving real world solutions that you can take away with you – to use in your own social marketing campaigns. He’ll be answering questions like “Why should brands and consumers work together and how do they do it?” and “How can companies make money from social media by building communities that increase profits?”

We want you to keep up with the changing pace of technology and marketing trends by hearing from some of the world’s top experts on the subject – like Simon. Once again the webinar is screening live on October 6th at 11am EDT. This first class webinar is entirely free, and open to the public.

Please share this page with everyone you know that needs to learn about using social media to make money for their businesses. Don’t miss out! Share on Facebook, tweet about this on Twitter, just get the word out – we have limited space!

Register now!

Courtesy of bradruggles.com

The question remains – is social media a real-time weapon of mass destruction?

Social Media Cons: Twitter Litter

What happens when crooks decide to use social media to organize, and rain havoc down upon innocent people and businesses? Many news outlets are asking the same thing. And after the destruction of many London streets from the Saturday riots, police and government officials will surely want control measures in place.

If anything, the riots have alerted the police about the potential dangers of always being connected with thousands of others in your area. But at its heart, Twitter – and even more private networks like Blackberry Messenger are vessels for good. Proof you ask? The collective solidarity of non-violent social media users from London, that are uniting to clean up the streets.

Social Media Pros: Criminals Beware

They have started a Twitter hashtag – #RiotCleanup – to help attract other concerned Londoners to their cause. Police have been encouraging bystanders to use the power of social sharing to capture images of criminals looting. Imagine being tagged in a shop with a television in your arms! Opinions are flying in left and right, as journalists exploit the hype for catchy headlines.

It’s still not really clear why or how this whole debacle happened. What is clear, is that the potential for policing the masses and bringing criminals to justice is great when using social media. The police force and the government need to re-evaluate how important social media really is in this day and age.

They need to unite, consolidate and monitor. They need to learn to use the general population as an extension of their own departments. We can’t blame the social networks for the riots, but we can admit that the danger is real. Social media is supposed to be public anyway, so there wouldn’t even be an invasion of privacy.

Social Media Forces

Perhaps we’ll see the rise of social reporting sites, run by governments or police branches – that integrate with dominant social networks. It would certainly be convenient to post something as it’s happening on a site that has the power to affect immediate change. A police run social site could do that.

Social media is becoming geo-targeted anyway. Now all we have to do is wait for some savvy programmer to weave the wool into a blanket. Until then, perhaps the police will have to suffer a little more at the hands of instant social media.

What do you think? Should the police focus on social monitoring, or should they have their own form of instant social site, to use in times of rioting and distress?

Courtesy of armannd.com

Some bloggers in the blogosphere are calling it ‘Facebook Fatigue,’ though the term in itself is as ridiculous as it is impossible to achieve. Facebook never gets old, because there’s always new news from the people that matter most in your life. So what the heck is going on?

The Plummeting Facebook Timeline

Let’s take a closer look at what is causing all this fuss in the first place.

• May Stats: Membership drops in the US from 155.2 million users to 149.4 million users, marking the first drop in Facebook membership there, ever – reports Inside Facebook.
• Canada’s Facebook user numbers also dropped to a paltry 16.6 million, down 1.52 million people.
• Globally, Facebook pulled in 13.9 million users in April, and 11.8 million users in May – a significant decrease in the 20 million+ that has been pouring in over the last year.

The Real Story Behind The Losses

It’s almost amusing to see people running around like headless chickens trying to decipher why Facebook traffic has plummeted. The thing is, it hasn’t – at all. These numbers are based on sign-ups, and on Facebook’s endless race to 1 billion active users. If people are choosing to ‘not’ be a Facebook user anymore, that’s their personal choice.

Maybe a few million people decided to go on holiday for a month, or there were a couple million angry girlfriends that shut down their significant other’s accounts. We can’t be sure of what happened, or why the US and Canada numbers have suddenly teetered off. Many people believe that the drop is due to privacy issues, and Facebook’s incessant updating.

Then there are others that believe people are moving to better platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. If this really is the beginning of a ‘levelling out’ it’s going to take a while for Facebook to stop growing, because of the third world countries that are still catching up to the US. The constant growth has to stop at some point. But it’s nothing to worry about for now.

Even if there are people in the US and Canada that have decided that their lives don’t revolve around Facebook, there are still close to 700 million people that check their accounts all the time. So, is this membership drop unusual? Yes, of course it is. Facebook has been growing like a maniac for the last few years.

Is the drop damaging in any way to marketers on Facebook – nope. Not yet. We’ll have to wait six months to a year to gather more trend data to determine that. In the meantime, while this is big news, no one is really saying what it means yet. And that’s because it doesn’t mean anything. Carry on engaging your community on Facebook, and promoting a lively business presence there – your efforts won’t be wasted!

What do you think about the Facebook membership drop? Leave your comment below!

Courtesy of progressivereadingseries.org

Heather reminded us that people are beginning to judge businesses based on the success of their social media campaigns – or more to the point, how many ‘followers’ or ‘fans’ they have. Since the beginning of the social media wave, it’s been remarkably easy to build a following if you’re already a ‘somebody’ in the world. For everyone else, it’s an uphill battle.

That’s why celebrities, politicians and top businessmen have such enormous followings. People want to hear what they have to say, and feel close to them. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow them to do this. But they shouldn’t be used as the benchmark for other businesses. And we believe this is where most businesses go horribly wrong in their campaigns.

They are on a desperate search for more people – fans, followers, anyone who will make the commitment and say, “yes I like your business.” But at its heart, this is a shallow system. Heather explains that it’s impossible to measure good relationships on social media, and we agree. Social media is not about numbers, metrics and data, it’s about connecting with people, really getting to know them.

Your social media campaign is NOT about the size of your community. It’s about the time you spend nurturing that community, whether it’s for 30 people, or 3 million.

The basic system of social media has turned many businesses into approval fiends, giving to their community only so that they can get something in return. A good review, a testimonial, a tweet, a post, a link – it all spirals out of control. What will really make your business stand the test of time, is giving unconditionally.

Give your time, your efforts, your talent to genuinely help your community. Go the extra mile for them, even if they’ve never bought a single thing from you.

Instead of logging into Twitter to keep a conversation going, just because it’s going to make your company look like it interacts – actually interact. This means transcending platforms, and treating people like they matter to your business. And they should matter, after all, without them you wouldn’t have any success as a business.

While people will judge your business based on its outward social media profile, it’s once they get to know you that should really make the difference. These measuring sticks, as Heather calls them, do deserve to be broken. What has the size or popularity of your businesses community got to do with the way you do business?

Take some time to remember what really matters, when you’re nurturing your social media community. If your competitor has 8000 fans, and you only have 80 – it’s not the end of the world.

Have the best possible relationship with those 80 people, and you’ve been successful. Don’t get bogged down with the measuring sticks of the world. They don’t dictate what your business does, or what it will become. Social media is NOT a competition.

Read Heather’s Post Here.

Courtesy of progressivereadingseries.org

Heather reminded us that people are beginning to judge businesses based on the success of their social media campaigns – or more to the point, how many ‘followers’ or ‘fans’ they have. Since the beginning of the social media wave, it’s been remarkably easy to build a following if you’re already a ‘somebody’ in the world. For everyone else, it’s an uphill battle.

That’s why celebrities, politicians and top businessmen have such enormous followings. People want to hear what they have to say, and feel close to them. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn allow them to do this. But they shouldn’t be used as the benchmark for other businesses. And we believe this is where most businesses go horribly wrong in their campaigns.

They are on a desperate search for more people – fans, followers, anyone who will make the commitment and say, “yes I like your business.” But at its heart, this is a shallow system. Heather explains that it’s impossible to measure good relationships on social media, and we agree. Social media is not about numbers, metrics and data, it’s about connecting with people, really getting to know them.

Your social media campaign is NOT about the size of your community. It’s about the time you spend nurturing that community, whether it’s for 30 people, or 3 million.

The basic system of social media has turned many businesses into approval fiends, giving to their community only so that they can get something in return. A good review, a testimonial, a tweet, a post, a link – it all spirals out of control. What will really make your business stand the test of time, is giving unconditionally.

Give your time, your efforts, your talent to genuinely help your community. Go the extra mile for them, even if they’ve never bought a single thing from you.

Instead of logging into Twitter to keep a conversation going, just because it’s going to make your company look like it interacts – actually interact. This means transcending platforms, and treating people like they matter to your business. And they should matter, after all, without them you wouldn’t have any success as a business.

While people will judge your business based on its outward social media profile, it’s once they get to know you that should really make the difference. These measuring sticks, as Heather calls them, do deserve to be broken. What has the size or popularity of your businesses community got to do with the way you do business?

Take some time to remember what really matters, when you’re nurturing your social media community. If your competitor has 8000 fans, and you only have 80 – it’s not the end of the world.

Have the best possible relationship with those 80 people, and you’ve been successful. Don’t get bogged down with the measuring sticks of the world. They don’t dictate what your business does, or what it will become. Social media is NOT a competition.

Read Heather’s Post Here.