On Monday we touched on the importance of establishing your small business on the various social networking sites and in the blogging community. But setting up your accounts and creating new, unique content is only half the battle. Once you have the tools in place, you must be proactive in order to grow and expand your presence on the internet.

According to a recent Nielsen study, users spend 22% of their time on the internet engrossed in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. And remember, this isn’t just users in the United States—this is on a global scale. In addition, three out of every four people who go online will visit a social network or blog. If you take just one thing away from these statistics, it should be that people are increasingly turning to social media.

Although social media was originally viewed purely as a source of entertainment and interaction, it has morphed into a perceived source of reliable information. (more…)

Despite its unequivocal position as the latest fad in business marketing and an immense legion of business execs and media sources touting its merits, a recent study shows that small businesses aren’t capitalizing on social media. While large, well-established corporations have jumped on the social media bandwagon with unbridled abandon, small- and medium-sized businesses appear reluctant to adopt this marketing trend.

According to the 2010 Business Monitor United States report, just 24 percent of small and medium businesses have generated sales through social media, and less than 1 percent cited social media as the dominant factor in promoting their business. Instead, companies have continued to utilize somewhat antiquated means of attracting customers, including old-fashioned word of mouth, networking events and traditional advertising. This aversion is quite surprising considering the ample amount of information and resources for implementing social media advertising  currently available to business owners. (more…)

Politicians have been devising ways to communicate with the public and reach out to their constituencies since the inception of the democratic system. And while each form of new media has given legislators more opportunities to communicate their manifold messages, the communiqué has often been filtered through reporters and the discourse has been decidedly one-sided. Social media, unlike any previous innovation, has fundamentally changed the way voters glean information about public officials. Not only do candidates now have unbridled access to the electorate, but social media also offers voters a way to voice their opinions in an open forum.

Traditionally, a candidate needed to take out ad space in order to deliver a message that wasn’t filtered through a journalist, and aside from an op-ed piece, there was little opportunity for conversation or to gauge the public response. With social media, however, there is no intermediary or barriers of communication. Politicians now have the capacity to justify why they voted for a piece of legislation, elected a certain cabinet member or any other decision in their own words—and voters have the chance to respond. (more…)

Although the notion of blogging strikes many people as an activity of an adolescent demographic, a recent report conducted by Sysomos, an accredited research company, proves otherwise. According to the study, more than half of these web-based voices – a whopping 53.3 percent – are between the ages of 21 and 35.

While this statistic may not come as a colossal announcement – in fact, the adolescent demographic (20 years old and younger) came in second at 20.2 percent – the pieces fit together in knowing that the first-place bracket was exposed to the “blog boom” during their adolescence, which started up about seven years ago, according to Sysomos.

Trailing behind in second place by 0.8 percent was the age group 36 to 50 years old at 19.4 percent, and rounding out the poll in last place were those age 51 and up at 7.1 percent.

(more…)

It took all of two days for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to make good on his promise of simplifying Facebook’s privacy settings. Unlike many companies who have come under public scrutiny as of late—BP, Goldman Sachs and Toyota, just to name a few—Facebook moved quickly and decisively to address the concerns of their constituency. The new settings were unveiled at a presentation held today at the company’s headquarters and will provide users with what the company had originally intended: a straightforward, user-friendly means for Facebook members to control the dissemination of their personal information. The changes will take a couple of weeks to be implemented, but here is a brief overview of what you can expect:

(more…)

Last week we reported on the public outcry following changes to Facebook’s privacy policy, and as they have been in the past, Facebook was quick to address the issue. After Congress sent a letter to the company in response to numerous complaints, Facebook executives met last week to begin discussing the issue. Following a report from the Wall Street Journal, which expounded loopholes in the company’s privacy policy, Facebook announced it would be making changes to the privacy policy and settings in the near future. In addition, in today’s op-ed section of the Washington Post, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg answered many questions concerning the site’s privacy policies and settings.

(more…)

For time immemorial, privacy has been a cornerstone of democracy and free societies. Although people now post personal photographs, messages and other information haphazardly on the internet, there is still the notion that social media sites, e-mail and other web-based communiqué come with a certain level of privacy. Websites like Facebook and MySpace have extensive privacy policies that outline how your personal information is used and who will have access to it—although few, if any, people ever take the time to read these documents thoroughly.

In recent months, Facebook has come under scrutiny for several changes the company has implemented in its privacy policy. Instead of receiving protection from stringent privacy settings, which used to be the case, users now have to alter the settings themselves if they wish to keep particular information private. The company has even announced that it will be sharing user information with third-party sites.

(more…)

In April, YouTube released a movie rental service that would allow users to watch a small selection of movies directly from the site. In a recent interview with Media Post, Hunter Walk, director of project management, said the site will allow users to charge a rental fee for their online videos. 

The details of the new rental program are still scarce, but will likely allow any user to sign up with the program, regardless of how many views they’ve had on YouTube. Users who rent the films will likely have access to the video for a 24-hour period and will be charged anywhere from $1-$6. (more…)

Whether it’s your favorite cupcake shop, the car dealership down the street or the place where you get your coffee every morning, it appears that neighborhood businesses nationwide have jumped onto the social-media bandwagon. Facebook, in particular, has become one of the most essential tools in business advertising and marketing; and now, the social network is moving from the web to storefront windows.

Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of product marketing, sent a letter to the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif. this week, which also included a Facebook decal, to say:

“We invite you to place it prominently on your window or sales counter, since businesses that promote their Page off-Facebook tend to see a 20 percent or greater increase in connections.” (more…)

The social in social media and social network is about to become even more social. On Wednesday, Facebook announced they will be reaching out to other sites around the world in order to bring the web together. What does that exactly mean and how will it impact everyone’s Internet experience? Let’s explore this notion.

Most avid Facebook users are familiar with the “Like” button, which usually shows that they’re interested in a friend’s status updates, photos or links. According to Facebook, the average user clicks “Like” on at least nine pieces of content each month. (more…)