Here is a small snippet from the article:

{Social media expert, Steve Smorgon, has 11,800 followers and follows 13,000 other users and that ratio alone identifies him among the professional or business users of Twitter.

 ”I tend to follow people that follow me, mainly because I wasn’t into the routine of sorting when I started but also because it¹s an etiquette thing ­ users expect you to follow them back”

  As an advisor to companies on how to penetrate social media sites, Smorgon is acutely aware of both the manners that he adopts in the networking sphere and the sensitivity that business should show to users.

  The engagement with social media, he says, “it has to be relaxed, it has to be conversational because, remember, you’re pushing yourself into a conversation that’s already going on”

 ”It might be a marketing tool but it’s more for commentary and some businesses don’t get this. The best way for business to approach it is to develop a relationship with people who are talking about them already”

 Smorgon describes Twitter as more of a public space than Facebook and less of a professional space than Linkedin but, he adds, it’s effective as a professional networking vehicle.

  “I’ve discovered borders don’t have boundaries. I’ve expanded my network to social media contacts in the U.S. that I might never have heard and I’ve picked up a few speaking engagements that might not have come my way”,  he says.

Like most longer-term users, Smorgon is getting savvier about his participation. He has different accounts for friends, business and social media and is using a monitoring tool to improve his participation in the Twitterverse.}

Full PDF: FinReview

Sure, I could go to the home page of some opinionated sports website, but I wanted to be right in the action!

Our agency Mercury approached drummond golf about tweeting Tiger Woods every move, we wanted to follow him round llike jack rabbits and tweet everything he did, like everything!

Only joking, but we will be tweeting all the results, perhaps some commentary from Brett Ogle and some competitions.

This is a current snapshot in the middle of Nov

We also asked them to integrate it on their website, shown here

I saw this in the paper and thought, how interesting, drummond golf are ahead of the pack.

So if you love golf and want to know whats happening at the golf masters, follow @drummondgolf

As a social experiment, we decided to create a Slurpee fanpage on Facebook. The goal was to generate as many fans as we could and more importantly keep them. ‘

After 8 months we have reached 545,501 fans. We started working with 7-eleven USA on their social strategy and how we could help them achieve their social media goals. We then sold the fanpage to them and learnt alot about the process. At one stage we were able to generate over 45,000 a day!!

The graph below shows how we were able to generate 45,000 NEW fans per day.

please contact me for more information…or visit our agency site

Like all of them, they talk about why the conversation between a brand/company and the end user is extremely important in today’s society.

Socialnomics is a book about Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and how they are changing the way businesses and consumers behave by connecting millions of people to each other via INSTANT communication.

It was released August 26, 2009 by Erik Qualman, Global Vice President of Online Marketing for EF Education, titled Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business.

If you are interested to know how social media is changing the dynamics of business, then you NEED this book.

Erik has also produced a video titled Social Media Revolution that is similar to Did You Know but focuses specifically on social media and its networks instead of technology in general. That in itself should be enough to encourage you to watch.

Social media is a new way of communicating/embracing/listening to your customers…can you afford not to care about what they are saying about your brand? you better….

The latest one that i found was done by Brandi Heinz (http://friendfeed.com/brandiheinz) who made cupcakes for a company presentation,

“I have a presentation for my company tomorrow on Social Media. It’s a Lunch and Learn, so I figured I could at least provide dessert. Behold, social media cupcakes!”

Who else has made bake goods out of social media? perhaps included icons in a painting?

Check out Brandi’s blog for how she put them together!

http://babblingb.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/social-media-cupcakes/

Well its that time of year again, where the best of the best will be getting web awards in the Big Apple!

Unfortunately, I will not be attending this year, but would like to congratulate all the nominees and the winners that are annouced at the awards ceremony.

If you would like full coverage of the awards you can check out their Youtube channel here

As some of you may also know, that its Internet week in NY this week, check out the schedule here http://schedule.internetweekny.com/, check out highlights from the week here

I will post my thoughts about the winners shortly!

http://www.wordle.net/create

From the Swappler Site:

Whether you’re looking to shop, swap, open up an online store, create a blog, browse designer trends or just network with friends around the world, you’re guaranteed to find what you need at Swappler.

Swappler offers a virtual retail experience, simultaneously allowing users to swap pre-loved clothing and browse designer fashion, fashion designers the opportunity to create, control and customise their own online store and web developers an alternate venue for creating affordable and stylish e-commerce websites.

Eclectic, rather than exclusive, Swappler users embrace the chance to experience, create and customise their appearance through fashion and engage in new ideas, fresh designers and expert advice through the networking opportunities Swappler provides.

Young designers fresh out of fashion school, or established designers who have found it difficult to make the move online, enjoy the retail space available at Swappler.com and appreciate the coverage and global exposure their label experiences by being part of the Swappler.com online community.

Visit Swappler here

To connect to a friend, simply do a “high-four” with the two pokens’ little hands. You will feel a magnetic pull between the hands when they are properly aligned: palm-to-palm. The data communication lasts about one second, so you can pull them apart after 1 or 2 seconds.

The pokens’ palms glow green if the connection is successful. If they glow red, then there has been an error. In that case, simply high-four them again for a few seconds.

Touch your poken to as many friends as you’d like to share your online social network profile(s).

Even if you’ve already connected with someone, it’s worth high-fouring your friends every time you hang out with them. You’ll be able to view all your social interactions in a timeline. The Poken high-four can become your new greeting. You can then keep track of when and how often you and your friends hang out.

Review by Mashable:
Poken Alone is No Fun

Review by Anne Helmond:
FIFI2008 Conference with a lot of Poking (and a little bit of E)