I think this is one of the best — and funniest — presentations on social media I have seen. Marta Kagan, the author, is a genius. And, I need to thank Bryan Fuhr, from AKQA, for turning me onto it.

While you may not want to use this with a client, there are certainly some wonderful insights and stats worth sharing.

[slideshare id=1729300&doc=wtfissocialmedia5-090716070117-phpapp01]

While social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter make it easy to share whatever is on our mind, we might do well to think about The Rules of Inside Voice.

Digital marketing visionary Mitch Joel exhorts marketers to “Burn the Ships” — he’s right.

I’m not by any means a statistician but I’ve been wondering lately if there is a correlation between the growth of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and the national unemployment rate.  So, for fun (I know, kind of perverse idea of fun), I decided just to put some stats together.  I’ll leave it to the real statisticians to run sophisticated models to prove (or disprove) the connection.

What do you think?

In the shadow of the social media fueled Iranian election ferment, hundreds (including me) turned out for 140 Characters Conference at the New World Stages in mid-town Manhattan on June 16-17 to discuss the disruptive effects of Twitter across multiple industries and fields — e.g., news, publishing, advertising, entertainment, etc.

The conference, a brainchild of Jeff Pulver, felt, alternately, like a religious revival tent gathering or a Twitter’s Anonymous Meeting; there were very few in attendance who were not avid or addicted Twitter users.

While Twitter certainly was the connective glue, it was also the springboard for a larger conversation … Read more

Back in 1992, James Carville, political strategist, successfully navigated Bill Clinton to the White House with a manical focus encapsulated in the now famous quip: “it’s the economy, stupid!”  Carville used that simple phrase as the litmus test for all his strategies.

I thought about that mantra last night listening to Steve Rubel, of Edelman Digital presenting at Mashable’s Nextup:NYC Social Media Marketing 101 event.

Since first posting Twitter:  Why and How, a number of friends and acquaintances have shared that they just aren’t “getting” Twitter.  Try as they might, they are not seeing the value of Twitter yet.

I understand how they feel: in the very beginning, I followed a handful of people — mostly my friends and family.  We were all trying to figure out this new way of communicating.  Twitter came with limited instructions, no suggested followers and as a result our tweet streams were largely empty or populated … Read more

I love Twitter, the social networking, short messaging utility founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams in 2006.

Since joining in 2008, I have learned so much by “following” smart marketing, technology and philanthropic people.  In 140 characters or less, people have shared business insights, events, and contacts, broadening my knowledge and my network.  My favorite Twitter story though involves @christiandimare whose personal passion, guitar playing, led to several business contacts and sales.  He met those leads through Twitter not because they were tweeting about business but because they tweeting about guitar playing.
So how does … Read more

Since I posted the Wisdom of Crowds: Facebook Backs Down, Facebook announced that it will now seek users’ input not only for drafting its new terms but also its privacy principles.  In addition to seeking users’ input, Facebook will also put the revised terms and privacy principles up for vote before adoption.

It’s great news not only for Facebook users but anyone who participates in social networking sites.  The internet was envisioned as a way to democratize information.  Facebook, one of the largest — if not the largest — online social networks is setting an important example by empowering its … Read more

On Monday, February 16th, Facebook quietly updated its terms of service which gave the 5 year old social media site broad reaching rights to users’ content — even after users deleted the content and/or their account.

Almost immediately, citizens of cyberville blogged, tweeted, and posted their outrage.  In fact, news organizations began reporting that  EPIC, an electronic privacy organization, was planning on filing a lawsuit with the FTC, accusing Facebook of privacy violations.

Last night, faced with increasing public outcry, Facebook retracted its new terms, re-instating an earlier version.  Zuckerberg blogged about it. Today, taking a … Read more