Latest Social Media News

Think different. ;

In Facebook's quest to generate more revenue, it's going to muck up your News Feed with auto-playing videos, the FT reports.

Facebook is set to launch video advertising in its newsfeed in July...

Social Media doesn't work for the vast majority of small businesses.

That was the main message in the USA Today article titled, Study: Social media a bust for small businesses, published on April 17th, 2013. From the news item:"About 61% of small businesses don't see any return on investment on their social-media activities, according to a survey released Tuesday from Manta, a social network for small businesses. Yet, almost 50% say they've increased their time spent on social media, and only 7% have decreased their time. What businesses are trying to get out of social media: 36% said their goal was to acquire and engage new customers, 19% said to gain leads and referrals, and 17% said to boost awareness. Facebook was most cited as the hardest to maintain social-media platform, according to the survey." There is a big lesson in this data...

What you want from social media may be very different from what it is.

It could make us more willing to express how we feel. Or you could say it over-simplies our complex moods and lives. But today the Facebook status update box began offering the option to “share how you’re feeling or what you’re doing” through a drop-down menu of emoticons and media. We’re entering a more structured era of communication, where both friends and big data know exactly how we tick.

Facebook began testing the new sharing options in January, but only released screenshots. Now it appears the feature has been given to a much wider audience. It’s likely the beginning of a global or at least US or English language rollout. I’ve contacted Facebook for details. Most mentions I’ve seen of the feature have been from the US, and many note the similarity to an old Myspace mood sharing option.

Here's our admittedly tongue in cheek list of reasons your small businesses still might not be using Pinterest. Join in the fun.

Recent reports suggest Pinterest is well on its way to being one of the biggest social networks ever.

A study last month indicates that while Facebook still maintains its domination with 67 percent of American Internet users, Twitter, the second runner up with 16 percent of the same audience, may soon be overtaken by Pinterest, which now has about 15 percent.

Need pixel dimensions and sizing information for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Pinterest, or LinkedIn? We put it all in one handy graphic.

How to clear your Facebook search history

Can you lose your Facebook Page because you didn't follow the rules? Facebook would never shut down a Page because they ran a contest and did something like... oh, I don't know, maybe offer to donate a dollar to charity for every Like their Page gets... right?

I'm constantly seeing people saying they've never heard of a Page being shut down for violating a rule and that Facebook doesn't enforce most of them anyway. Well, here are two examples of some popular Pages that were shut down by Facebook for some seemingly innocent contest rule violations. Think it's okay to do it just because you see the big dogs doing it? Think again.

Share and discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.

In my role at Twitter, I work with a spectrum of businesses – both large and small. This year, I’ll be traveling around the world and am particularly excited to meet with smaller businesses to share how Twitter can help them. This week, at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Annual Convention in New York City, I spoke about the future of retail during the “Main Street Retailing Forum” keynote.

Do you want to be a more successful blogger?

Are you keeping up with the newest developments in blogging?

Whether you are new to blogging or you have been blogging for years, you will find insight in this article.

It covers 26 blogging essentials, in an A–Z tour of the blogosphere.

Each one has a full explanation, along with a link to further reading in case you want to know more.

Note: For simplicity’s sake, I assume you’re using WordPress as your blogging platform. Many of these essentials, though, apply to other blogging platforms as well.

Facebook’s algorithms are sometimes a problem for fan pages who publish only a few posts. The problem is that they don’t appear in the stream of their fans. With this new feature, that could change, if the fan... activates this new option. Interesting! [note Martin Gysler]

Facebook is rolling out a new feature for users to opt in to receive notifications every time a page makes a post.

This seems to be a solution for fans who don’t want to miss any page posts that might not make it into their News Feed because of Facebook’s algorithms. For example, some users might want to be aware of all posts from a news publication, an artist they really like or a small business that doesn’t post very often. The feature is similar to the “close friends” option, which alerts users each time a new update or photo is shared by someone on the list.

Read more: http://www.insidefacebook.com/2012/10/31/facebook-rolls-out-option-for-fans-to-receive-notifications-about-page-posts/

Ever since Facebook first applied the reply function to comments on pages, many admins were a little frustrated that the comments weren't in chronological order.

Social media is one of the most effective ways for you and your business to get more traffic and generate new leads. Having a presence on all the major networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is a necessity these days for any business. But what tools are the social media gurus actually using to manage these multiple accounts?

Though some forward-thinking businesses are already using Instagram, chances are you aren't yet, and neither are your competitors. With its universal appeal, however, Instagram is not a medium marketers should ignore. And you'd better move quickly if you want to make an impact.

To maximise a tweet's effectiveness you need to use the 140 characters in the most efficient manner possible. This post offers five simple suggestions to optimise tweets for engagement and ultimately CTR. 

The number one rule before applying these quick fixes is ensuring your tweet content is relevant to your audience. Although these are generic tips applicable to any industry your tweets must communicate the value of your product/service to your customers.

One of the most unwieldly features of Facebook has always been the search function.

After all there is a lot of information to sift through.

There are already more than a billion people, more than 240 billion photos and more than a trillion connections.

How do I find that thread I was talking on last week? Where are my friends recommend that I travel to if I go to Australia. What events are on in Tokyo this weekend? This kind of thing and more.

I just signed up for the beta of the Facebook Graph Search.

The objects we will find will be determined by “likes”. This may mean that many will become more circumspect with what they click like on. Instead of using it as a networking tool to let others know that you have seen their content. Maybe Facebook now needs a love button?

As the hype of social media begins to die down and companies re-evaluate their efforts with a steely-eyed look at the cost versus benefits, I think it is time to re-visit this important question: Does every company really need a social media marketing plan?

This is a very complex question. So to help answer it, I looked at a few companies with brands that might not be natural fits for a social media presence. Adult diapers. Coal. Hazardous waste clean-up. Playing cards.

Let’s explore this important question by taking a romp through some unusual case studies that stretch the boundaries of social media marketing thinking.

You know how some naysayers still like to dismiss Twitter as nothing more than a time wasting website where people talk about the sandwich they're eating? Here's another rebuttal for them.