Exploring the Impact of Social Media
From the category archives:
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Whether you plan to use social media for better PR outreach, marketing, or just listening to what customers have to say, the social media tools you use can play an important role in your business. What’s equally important is who uses those tools in your company’s name. Should you handle social media profiles yourself, or should you turn to a professional who can help you develop a solid social media strategy? [click to continue…]
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The impact of the social Web is greater than we realize right now. We’re not only window shopping online, but we’re also accustomed to finding awesome deals without leaving the comfort of home.
Many of us might not see it (fortunately, I live it) because we’re not exposed to it – it’s not necessary in our everyday lives (yet). But there’s a whole lot going on out there in the social world – group buying and daily deals being one area – that’s slowly expanded beyond general sites, into niche interests.
But does group buying give us an incentive to otherwise buy things we normally wouldn’t? Do daily deals make us feel as if we have to act immediately to get the best deal, even if it’s not something we necessarily need?
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen deals come through my email from Groupon and suddenly I’m like… “OH! I WANTED to do that. Really. I did, I swear.” And seeing deals shared through a friend on Twitter or Facebook definitely influences me to check them out. [click to continue…]
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Let me preface this list by saying that I generally dislike “best” lists. I don’t care for people attempting to rank the best of the best of anything online. It’s not just based on a collection of faulty metrics or completely subjective (which people often don’t admit), but it’s ignorant at best. After all, no one is familiar with everything available, so how can they attempt to identify the best?
It usually turns into this back-patting, ass-kissing kind of thing. “So-and-so said something nice about me so I obviously think they’re one of the best or most influential people out there,” or “So-and-so is a more well-known blogger than me, so I should include them so maybe they’ll notice me.” Man, that kind of thing makes me cringe. [click to continue…]
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A few days ago freelance writer Laura Spencer (@TXWriter) tweeted a link to a Mashable post. The hyped up headline read “Facebook Now Controls 41% of Social Media Traffic.” Before I even read the post my gut screamed “Bullshit!” It often does that. My gut is rather talented at sniffing out shady statistics. It must be that past life in PR where we all learn that statistics can say just about anything we want them to if we twist them enough (my disgust of that attitude makes me hypersensitive to them now).
Then I did read the article. What I found was baffling (okay, it wasn’t really — it was about what I expected):
Yikes. I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t linked you to the post yet. That’s because it seems to have gone “Poof!” Vanished into thin air it did. Because of that I won’t pull the actual charts to show you the problems (doesn’t seem right to publish their charts when they’ve pulled them — especially when it wasn’t even clear in the post if they belonged to Mashable or were Comscore charts taken somewhat out of context). However, I do want to highlight something from the cached version which illustrates my biggest problem of all: [click to continue…]
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Credit: Advanced Human Technologies (www.ahtgroup.com)
You’ve heard about “influencers” right? That’s a big buzz word especially in the blogosphere these days (and it has been for a couple of years). What exactly is an influential blogger though? Do those lists of the most influential blogs or biggest influencers really mean much?
Honestly, they don’t. Why? Because sadly too many people confuse “influence” with basic popularity. Is there anything wrong with having a popular blog or being a popular personality in your niche or industry? No. Of course not. But being popular doesn’t mean you necessarily have a comparable amount of influence within that niche. Let’s explore both popularity and influence, and talk about why you really need to understand the difference. While we’ll look specifically at bloggers, the same can be true of those on Twitter, social networks, or who are active in any other area of social media. [click to continue…]
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The honor of your presence is requested at the latest social (media) event of the season: the premiere of the new Social Implications blog.
Who: The Social Implications staff
What: The launch of Social Implications
When: Right now
Where: SocialImplications.com
Why: Because for all of the how-tos and “Look at me! Look at me!” behavior in the social media world, there’s not nearly enough information about the real business and personal implications of doing social media “right” or “wrong” — SocialImplications.com will focus as much on what not to do as what you can do to use social media effectively.
RSVP — Okay. You’re actually too late to RSVP. But you managed to find your way here anyway, so kick back and enjoy.
By the way, this event is BYOB — bring your own brain. You won’t find the sheep mentality here at Social Implications, with every tool and tactic pushed on you just because “everyone else is doing it.” This party is for a slightly more refined crowd — those willing and able to think for themselves, using the social media information and discussions we offer to make their own decisions about what’s best for their business or their personal situation.
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