Social Media Guru

Facebook Successfully Expands Its Audience

blognow1 — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 16:24:25 +0000

Social networks are gaining popularity with older audiences. Previously, Facebook targeted college students, only allowing users with .edu email address to register. However, since Facebook opened its registration to any and everyone, the biggest increase in unique users has been with people 25-34 years old (according to comScore’s latest press release).

* Data courtesy of comScore.

Growth in this age group is extremely important for the overall growth of Facebook. In the past it has been difficult for this age group to boost their friend and network base. Previously, if you hadn’t recently graduated from college, it could be difficult to find people you knew and build out your networks. Yet what we are starting to see is an all-age encompassing platform with total unique visitors on the rise:

*Data courtesy of comScore.

Podcasting – 40 million by 2010?

blognow1 — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 01:03:15 +0000

In researching podcasting trends and best practices I came across this video that I think is entertaining and educational:

Podcasting is, without a doubt becoming an increasingly popular form of media: check out Edison’s Research.

What is holding people back then? Part (although not all) has to do with the common misperception is that in order to be a podcast user, you must have iTunes and an ipod. Yet podcasting has become so easy that anyone can create, subscribe and listen (or watch) podcasts. Podcasting has become so easy with free services, but how do you know which service is best to use?

What have you podcasters found to be the best publishing service? Sites, such as Juice and Gcast make creating a podcast simple. What are other sites that people have found to be simple and good quality?

Blogging a Social Media Fad?

blognow1 — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:38:41 +0000

Last week MarketingProfs Daily Fix published an article about the life-cycle of blogging. Is blogging a fad on its way out?

This article, by Lewis Green, suggests that there is a possibility, that dare we say, blogging is a social media fad that will rise, peak and decline. He asks the question, “What if the audience has peaked or it is reaching its maximum potential and growth and it will slow in the future?”.

My opinion is that blog popularity is not on the decline. Take a look at Sifry’s “State of the Blogosphere” released in April. But all you really need to see to know that the blogosphere is not on its way out is this:

The growth of blogging remains strong with 120k blogs being created everyday.

Corporate Blogging – Evolving or Dieing?

blognow1 — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:32:09 +0000

The PR concerns to corporate blogging are numerous. Understandably, you are putting the integrity and perception of your company into the hands of one, or maybe a few, people. With the rise of blogging success stories, companies are learning the do’s and don’ts of corporate blogging.

In case you are wondering what corporations are blogging and how their blogs look, take a look TheCorporateBlogList (as of June 2007 consisted of 132 companies). There is also a Fortune 500 Business Blog wiki and reports “40 (8%) of the Fortune 500 are blogging”.

Corporate blogging is on the rise. Now that we have seen examples of what NOT to do, what is still keeping companies from joining the blogosphere?

Blogs and Career Paths: Business Research on Personal Content

blognow1 — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 18:25:43 +0000

Companies are getting smarter in their job searches. They are accessing information that potential candidates don’t give them such as MySpace profiles and YouTube accounts (depending on how these are named). They are finding you, the job candidate, in ways you might not want to be found.

An article from Yale Daily last year talks about Facebook profiles popping up on recruiter radars. Career advising sites are reccomending “cleaning up your dirt” as part of your job search.

However, we can use this to our advantage. Remember that as a blogger you have complete control of what goes on your blog. Use this to market yourself, but don’t get too coverletter-like. Let your personality and personal interests shine, but think twice before posting proprietary information, negative comments about past employers or illegal activities that might not look appealing to employers. As the next generation starts to fill the boots of the current in the marketplace, companies will find your blog, your blog comments and your social network profiles and will use this in their filtering process.