Check out this hilarious video about the Social Networking Wars. Just watch the Youtube video below and make sure you leave your comments below on what you think!

Social Networking Wars: SuperNews!

Myspace confronts a young fellow who may have been cheating on it with other sites. Soon facebook and others show up for a showdown. Let the …

Post from: Social Media Vision

Social Networking Wars

There will always be critics, haters and naysayers out there in the real world and online world.

How many times have we heard sayings like:

“I don’t care what people are doing or where they are going, don’t tell the world on Facebook/Twitter”

The funny thing is mostly the people who do complain about this rant are usually users who have not found a benefit in using Facebook or Twitter and merely have an account just to have one.  They maybe update their account once every 2 weeks and has less than 50 friends.  However there are your emos and haters who just like to bicker and rant on things.

Honestly these people just seem to be bitter in life generally and are grumpy grandpas, if you ask me.

Then there are a few who doesn’t seem to grasp the benefit in status updates.

Take a look at a few more examples below:

Heres a Facebook Group

Twitter Comments

The benefits of Status Updates – Enough with the pointless bashing

Ok so whats the real benefit of an update of:

“I am getting ready for my trip to NYC”

“I just bought a new puppy”

“Just saw the movie G.I Joe”

Close minded people may view these updates..just babble….pointless.  I beg to differ.  Matter of fact, the millions of other users who effectively use Facebook & Twitter as an excellent medium for communication and engagement beg to differ as well, here’s why.

The main point in displaying these updates are to open up conversations and provide the lead for engagement

Its that simple folks.  Most people don’t realize that this is an excellent way to strike up a conversation and a perfect time to engage so that you are effectively using your Social Network to its full potential.  Why let anything go to waste when your not using it at full potential?  That’s like buying a Fast Expensive Car that just sits in your garage.

Now some people may say that some updates are too excessive?

Yes I do agree, some people need to learn The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook by Tamar Weinberg, however it goes back to the old saying “Something is better than nothing”

Its just like in jr.high when the boys would be afraid to dance with the girls but one boy who may not be the best dancer, dances himself silly in the middle of the gym and magically girls start to dance with him.  While the cool guys were laughing at the silly boy, the silly boy got to dance with the girls.

So stop the bickering, its only making yourself look bitter.  Go out there and Engage!  Communicate!  Do what the Social Networks were created for you to do and that’s Socialize, no matter how pointless the updates maybe, its just another way to provide communication.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Why Facebook and Twitter status updates are not useless

The Blame Game

Over the years, there has been many articles written about how certain Social Networks were causes for certain events.

Below are a few examples:

• Mashable writes about how Facebook Can Get You Fired, Dumped, And Yes, Evicted
• Gawker explains how a bank intern gets fired because of Facebook.
• Another story of getting fired from Facebook is from Switched, a teen calls job “boring”
• Most recently, the famous story about how a would-be cisco employee would of got hired except Twitter got him fired.
• Americanshelflife talks about how she got dumped because of Facebook

Now noticed, all the articles have one thing in common and that is doing the blame game.  It seems like placing the blame of the bad news on the Social Network is more shocking than comparing it to a normal event without Social Media involved.

It appears with the new hype and phenomenon of Social Media taking place that these stories get hyped due to having the event take place on Social Media.  This maybe the case, but they are still all missing the main point and that’s being accountable for their own actions.

Social Media Are Just Communication Tools and Mediums

Twitter, Myspace and Facebook are just Social Networks.  They are communication tools that we use on a daily basis.  Although these are great sources for communication, they are just that and doesn’t force us to do anything  against our will.

If you ever heard the saying….

“Computers don’t make errors, people make errors”

“Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”

These sayings imply that to not blame the tools but to blame the users.

Be Accountable For Your Actions

There is a great movement and book out there if you haven’t heard it, it’s called QBQ – The Question Behind The Question and Personal Accountability.

That’s what this is all about, these users on these Social Networks need to stop blaming Social Media for their actions and take personal accountability for what they did.

It’s not Facebook’s fault that the users got fire for posting incriminating information…..

It’s not Twitters fault for displaying a users Tweet on his careless opinion about his future employer…

It’s not Myspace’s fault that you got dumped……

Let’s look at the cold hard facts.  These users are all soley responsible for their actions and just because they have the ability to showcase their information to the world they should have the common sense to be more careful in what they put out there on the net.

Just because you entertained the idea that you will never get caught because it’s Social Media, doesn’t make it right.  If you published your hatred opinion in a book instead of Facebook, don’t think you will not fall under the same consequences.  Doing something wrong is doing something wrong regardless if you get caught or not.

Bottom line is that Social Media is not to blame….the blame is upon yourself…take personal accountability for your actions and next time make better judgement calls before you go out and do something you will regret.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Don’t Blame Twitter, Myspace or Facebook; Blame Yourself

Facebook Adults Vs Myspace Teens

So recently Facebook has surpassed Myspace in unique visitor count with a total of 150 million visitors.  It wasn’t too long ago where Myspace was king and Facebook was just a rookie.

There are many reasons and theories how Facebook over took the throne of Myspace.  The one thing I think helped contribute a lot to Facebook’s success is the shear fact that Myspace was infested with teens and young adults.  Adults and Parents were a little hesitant in joining Myspace but it looked “kiddish” and just didn’t feel right when the main audience is 12-27 years old.

Facebook on the other hand is very clean and started becoming a breeding ground for business minded adults.  Soon networking and marketing became mainstream on Facebook and encouraged other adults and parents to follow suite.  Now keep in mind, Facebook was originally only for college students who are not quite old but are not quite kids.  

This also helped ease the association of a Social Network like Facebook rather than associating with Myspace where it might make you sound creepy for being on that site if your older than 30 years old.

Social Network Comparisons

Categorizing all Facebook users as “Adults” and all Myspace users as “Kids” is of course not true, but majority of the sites are.

However, keep in mind that Facebook has just achieved a new milestone and a lot of users from Myspace are coming over to Facebook because of the hype regardless of being young or old.

Regardless, I still find many stero-types out there in the world and recently I cam across a young girl who was quoted saying “Facebook is the Myspace for old folks and parents” in which I tweeted on Twitter and got some very funny reactions.

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The Reactions

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Facebook Adults vs Myspace Teens

Below are some funny quotes caught on Twitter on the views of Myspace and Facebook.  I think its funny when the parents talk about how their kids are on Myspace and how happy they are on Facebook, or vice versa.

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Myspace looks like the inside of a 14yr old’s bedroom

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The Trend

It will be interesting to see if Facebook can keep up with their new members and to see if Myspace can win back the crown this year.  I do think Generation Gaps do play a major role with the two Social Networks and Facebook has a major lead with adults conforming over, while Myspace has a strong hold on the Tweens.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Facebook Adults vs Myspace Teens

Guest Blogger Tina Merritt

Tina is a good friend of mine who is a Real Estate Agent & Internet Marketing Trainer for Long & Foster Realtors, Founder of Wolkia a consulting company for Real Estate Agents embracing Technology, Activerain Blogger, Awesome Mother & a Virginia Tech Hokies fan.

I was honored to have her guest blog on my post with this re-blog below on Social Network Friendships.  Enjoy!

It seems every site nowadays gives you the opportunity to follow “friends”.

So, what type of “friends” are there?  Let’s take a look….

1. True friends.  People you personally know.  People you talk to at least once per month.  The people who probably know way too much about you.  The people who you would have to pay to be silent if you ever decided to run for public office.

2.  Business Associates.  Colleagues you do business with on a regular basis.  Maybe you work in the same office.  Maybe they have done your loans/home inspections/closings for the past 5 years.  People who know you personally, but probably don’t REALLY know you.

3.  Clients.  Past, present, future.  You handled a business transaction for them 3 years ago, haven’t talked to them since – but that doesn’t mean they don’t like you.

4.  Former classmates.  Gary the Geek, Popular Priscilla, Doug the Druggie, Wanda the Weirdo….you know what I mean.  The old boyfriend who is now married with 3 kids or your best friend from 7th grade.

5.  Social Networking friends.  This gets tricky.  People you have never met face to face but have watched on YouTube, read their blogs, subscribed to their feed, etc.  People you feel like you know – though you have never personally met.

6.  Acquaintances.  People you have heard of, or they have heard of you – though you really do not know much about them.

7.  Circle of Sphere.  People who know people you know.  You may or may not ever get to actually know them.

8.  Strangers.  The friend request you get that you accept and the person is some guy who builds skateboards out of his garage in Brazil.  You have absolutely nothing in common….and probably never will.

When deciding who to “friend”, keep this in mind…..what is the purpose of the site you are on and who are you trying to connect with?  Very often, your “friends” will take a look at the others you have “befriended”.  Be careful here….if you are using Facebook for business, do you want Boobalicious Brenda or Boozing Bernie to show up in your friend feed? Also, periodically check out your “friends” – you may be surprised what their new profile picture looks like and how it can reflect back on you.

Tina in Virginia

Post from: Social Media Vision

Boobalicious Brenda – Who Are Your 8 Types Of Online Friends ?

Google Friend Connect

Earlier this week on December 15th 2008, Google’s Official Blog wrote a post on how Twitter was integrated with Google Friend Connect service. 

This allows Twitter users now to sign in and join in with this social networking service by using Twitter Ids now so you tweet about the sites you join or find other Twitter users in your community.

Twitter Plays Fair

Quickly word spread that Twitter slapped Facebook & Myspace in the face with this breaking news but Twitter CEO Evan Williams had this to tweet about it, saying “For the record: Twitter did not “choose Google, not Facebook.” We’re working with both. We have more to do on the FB side before launch.”

Turns out Twitter wants to debunk rumors on siding with just Google, but what about Myspace you ask?

Twitter was originally one of the launch partners for Myspace ID (similiar to Google Friend Connect and FacebookConnect) Myspace has been using Google Friend Connect currently and is awaiting integration with Twitter.

Twitter’s Biz Stone also quoted from Tech Crunch here saying

Twitter plans to integrate with the open initiatives offered by our friends at MySpace, Facebook, and Google. We officially announced our intent to work with MySpace back in May because we believe strongly in offering the exchange of public information between our complimentary services.

Integrating with MySpace as well as FacebookConnect will require some development effort on our part. Now that we have 13 software engineers working at Twitter and our reliability continues to improve we’re getting closer to integrating with your favorite social networks

 

2 cents

So it appears Twitter want’s to be friends with everyone and is playing it very safe along the lines on who to side with.  Twitter seems at this point very smart to keep a hush hush business advertising model and playing it fair on all sides. 

Keep in mind Twitter was offered a buyout from Facebook earlier and was turned down.  More and more big players are viewing Twitter as “The Hot New Toy” recently, the question is who will Twitter play with the most?

Post from: Social Media Vision

Twitter Playing Fair With Google, Facebook & Myspace

Facebook Voted Most Popular & Most Likely To Succeed

The age old question of which is better Myspace or Facebook.  Based on this weeks Poll’s at SMV ,the results were astonishing 80% voted for Facebook while only 20% voted for Myspace as their favorite Social Network.

The common answer would to be to be on both networks and why chance the exposure of losing out on either network, but the question is not which to be on but now the question is which is more effective?

Taking a look back

Myspace was IN and Facebook was out.  Myspace had all the formulas in place to be king back in the day while Facebook didn’t even register a blip on the Social Media Radar.  There were many reasons like Invitation only and student/work focused Facebook business avenues but the main reason is that word spreads quick in the Social Media Atmosphere and who better to spread word than none other than………Teenagers.

Yes Kids and Teenagers helped spread this phenomenon to the level it has achieved and as all the experts say, the best marketing is word of mouth marketing.

As with Teens and Kids they grow tired and have the typical teenager attention deficit disorder and when Facebook released to the public and being open more and more kids were switching to Facebook as “The New Fad”

Lets take a look at current stats….

Current Stats

ComScore shows that Facebook has catapulted into the lead of Worldwide Unique Visitors and is continuing to grow according to compete.com.

Compete.com shows that Facebook has been increasing 84% year to date while Myspace has been dropping 15.7% year to date.  You do the math and see where this takes them.

But just by these pure numbers alone doesn’t explain the big picture.

The Big Picture of Why Facebook will Succeed

Remember how the Teenager phase has catapulted Myspace to its Star Status?  Well Facebook is taking on a different marketing Method.  Facebook is getting more and more success with Adults.  Yes Adults are turning to Facebooks as more of a Business Avenue.

Many Business Professionals look into Facebook as far as a Networking Tool for current, past and future clients.   Its a cleaner and more “Adult” friendly alternative to the Myspace Craze.  Adults also tend to flock to Facebook just in spite because its not Myspace where Myspace has been known as the “Kiddy” “Wild” “Personal” atmosphere.

Now major companies encourage thier business experts to take part in Social Media like Facebook to succeed and stay ahead of the game by developing not only real life relationships but digital relationships online.

Conclusion

While most Generation Nexters will remain with Myspace due to Myspace Music and because of old friends that won’t make the switch, Many previous Generations and Current Generations are making the switch to Facebook and will grant Facebook the title “Most Popular” and “Most Likely to Succeed”

What do you think?

Post from: Social Media Vision

Facebook Voted Most Popular & Most Likely To Succeed

Social Networks Are Becoming Breeding Grounds For Scam

As the Social Media phenomenon increase, people all around the world have found ways to stay connected with friends, family and co-workers.

As users widen their social presence on Myspace, Facebook and LinkedIn, they need to be aware that scammers also have shifted their focus to social media sites as the next hot locations to find their next target, according to this article.

“Many [criminals] have now moved to computer networks because that’s where the victims have moved and, therefore, the opportunities,” said Shawn Henry, assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Investigations unit. – [Businessweek]

Just as with anything that has become popular in mainstream you have to watch out for the new age scammers who are always looking for a way in to make money with new scams.

The Nigerian Scam

Over the past years Craigslist has been bombarded with Nigerian Scams of pretending to either give money, ask for suspicious transfers or any other method instead of the traditional cash/credit card transaction.

Per Craiglists.

Recognizing scams [Craiglist]

Most scams involve one or more of the following:

• inquiry from someone far away, often in another country
• Western Union, Money Gram, cashier’s check, money order, shipping, escrow service, or a “guarantee”
• inability or refusal to meet face-to-face before consumating transaction

Post from: Social Media Vision

Social Networks Are Becoming Breeding Grounds For Scam

Myspace and Facebook and Twitter Oh My!

We live in the day in age of “Whats the next hottest thing to hit the web” its surprising that almost 2 decades ago there was no such phrase.

With the unstable economy we now face and the tough times we run into, we are inclined to find ways to help increase our marketing and boost our exposure in business.

From Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Social Media, Social Marketing, Social Networking, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Blogging,Podcasts, Video Marketing, Wikis,Forums,Classifieds, Single Site Websites….Ok you get the idea.

The whole concept of keeping up is a work in itself and not to mention can cause dizziness and nausea

So the Golden Question is … ” What works” and “Which one should I do?”
Expensive Marketing

The boot camp of marketing and branding in the real world was no small picnic before the age of computers.

A rough game plan is outlined below:

• Marketing consisted of big bucks to Newspaper Ads, Radio Ads, TV Ads, Magazine Ads, you name it, there was no cheap way of advertising to what was “perceived” as the must advertise avenues. This costs Money and tons of it to get your return of investment.

• You wanted exposure, you hit the streets, talking to everyone and anyone, getting your name out there,because lets face it there was no such thing as a worldwide connection resource built on data and Ips at your disposal at the time, guess what this costs Money too. Gas, Air travel, flyers, signs etc….

• You wanted to join a networking group, wanted to sponsor a local team, wanted to have your ideas/thoughts exposed on print media….Great!!, it costs Money

Take a look at the bolded words above, they all cost “Money”

The Answer to “What Works?”

To answer the question, “What Works?” the answer is…..”EVERYTHING”

Yes, many of the online presence websites out there is “Free” and what is the old saying “Exposure is Exposure and nothing beats free exposure”

We are so privileged that most consumers are hooked up online now, that getting your name out there in the cyberworld is gold.

Think about it, so what if you signed up to a million sites and have created a profile or that you advertised millions of ads on craigslist.

What have you lost? Time maybe but what have you gained from getting your name out there to those million websites?

FREE Exposure, you can’t beat that.

Which one should I do?

Everyone out there usually has 2 responses to the many of sites/services out there.  Success and No luck.

Think about it, has every real world marketing worked for you 100% of the time as well? Has every colleague you known all had the same success stories from every marketing out there?

You betcha bottom dollar that every marketing has different results for everyone.

So here’s my concept, what does it hurt, to throw as much about yourself out there in the online world and see’s what sticks, What could it hurt?

The Verdict

So the moral of the story ladies and gentleman, don’t worry about what works and deciding which one to take a test drive in.

Dive right in to this wonderful free world of online presence, you will only be helping your exposure more regardless if you spend time on it or not, you signed up, you posted your profile and now your presence is added more to your portfolio.

Last but not least, Have fun, Find a niche site you like, there are many addictive tweeters out there, myspace fans, Facebook heads…go find your own selfish pleasure in these sites and make it your own.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Which Social Media Marketing Works Best?

Separate Business with Personal

Remember that whatever you put online is exposed to the world and that includes family/friends, clients and co-workers.

It can be very easy to get caught in trying to gain new exposure by exposing content you may not want your co-workers or clients to see.

If you have personal profiles on Myspace and Facebook you may want to set your privacy settings to “Private” so you can screen who is allowed to see your site and who to keep out.

Be careful what you put online that may be inappropriate content

Always remember, if you choose to keep your profiles public, act if a client or your boss is looking at your profile.

What may seem appropriate to your friends and family may not seem appropriate to your business, especially if you are trying to promote your business on a personal profile.

Even though you may want to show your personality and individualism you may need to play the “PG” mode with your site which includes but not limited to the following:

• Party, Beer and Drinking related pictures and comments
• Racy and Indecent Pictures and comments
• Immature and offensive pictures and comments

Blog and Social Network Safely

You may of heard that most employers do random checks on Myspace profiles for job seekers and current employees.

People get fired and not hired because of inappropriate profiles all the time. You may think this is a violation to your privacy, but it’s up to you to keep your profile private.

Get into a habit of creating “Double Profiles” create a profile on Myspace solely for business purposes and the other for family and friends with a private setting.

Don’t be afraid to deny friend requests, especially if the site is your personal profile. I have denied many friend requests on myspace and I explain to my co-workers and clients that this is my private personal file, they will understand.

So the moral of the story is keep blogging, keep social networking but keep in mind your information is being broadcast to the world and be careful.

Post from: Social Media Vision

Don’t Mix Social Media Business with Personal Profiles