As useful and fun as TwitterTwitter can be, it can also be both addictive and a major distraction. Many times in the past I’ve tried to write a blog post or work on some other big project and I’d lose my focus because I had Twitter open and kept getting drawn to it, wanting to tweet something, see what others were tweeting or just reply to somebody. Of course, this is a common and well documented problem with most social media sites, but I’ve found Twitter to be particularly bad, if for no other reason that it’s so simple and quick to use.
It’s now increasingly documented that multi-tasking, and just generally allowing distractions into your life is a poor way of getting things done. If you’re tweeting while trying to do your work, that work will take much longer and require more effort to do. If you don’t want to waste your time like that, try implementing these four tips when using Twitter: # Set limits # Identify what you want to achieve # What value are you offering? # Cut out distractions Read full post at twitip.com
FacebookFacebook is a social networking site that is enormously popular, but it can be a frustrating user experience. The design of Facebook leaves a lot to be desired and there are almost too many choices for things to do on Facebook. Also some of the more popular Facebook activities are trivial instead of useful – throwing sheep is an oft-quoted example. Having said that, there’s no doubt that Facebook is a powerful social networking tool. So how can you best utilize it and find the good apps? In this post we aim to find out. We’ll be focusing specifically on social activities, rather than the many other potential uses of Facebook (work, brand management, etc). Tip # 1: Update Your Status Regularly Tip # 2: Use Groups (a.k.a. Lists in Facebook Terminology) Tip # 3: Add Your Content From Other Sources (Carefully…) Tip # 4: Brighten Up Your Profile With Photos and Videos Tip # 5: Search Out the Best Facebook Apps Read on at readwriteweb.com
I admit I’m a TwitterTwitter addict. I enjoy the flurry of tweets and the variety of information my followers share with me. But even though I like the variety, it’s still important for me to feel some sort of connection to the people and companies I follow. On the people side, the way I connect is by getting to know someone’s personality. It’s the same if I’m following a company. Where the person is offering personality, the company is successfully tweeting their corporate culture. But if all you’re doing is sending out auto-tweets, I’m not sure either of us is getting the full benefit of your presence on Twitter. Some people don’t like communicating with a company logo. But when a company offers a pleasant look and feel, and tweets out information of value to customers, then it is possible to connect with them. Here are 7 suggestions (along with some Twitter examples) for establishing a rock-solid corporate culture on Twitter: # 1. Share Your History # 2. Talk Vision and Mission # 3. Reveal Industry Insights # 4. Recognize Employees # 5. Profile Customer Successes # 6. Be Responsive # 7. Ask Questions About the Future Read on at Mashable.com
With so much news lately about Google VoiceGoogle Voice, those who haven’t kept up on every tiny development have found themselves lost. What exactly is Google Voice? Is it a phone redirecting service? VoIP? Voicemail? All of the above? None of the above? Even some of our staff members are confused about what Google Voice offers and why people would want to use it, so we thought it would be helpful to offer a guide to Google Voice for those just tuning in. Google Voice originated as GrandCentral, an independent company that hit the scene in 2005. GrandCentral allowed users to register a new phone number and direct it to ring multiple phones; it could also collect messages and act as your personal switchboard operator. This sounds boring on the surface, but it provided a number of cool features, such as the ability to listen in on voicemail messages as they were being left or to tell a specific number that your phone number is no longer connected (great for stalkers and crazed PR people, who are kind of like stalkers). GoogleGoogle acquired GrandCentral in 2007, and promptly sat on the project for nearly two years before it relaunched the service as Google Voice in March of 2009… Read on at arstechnica.com
Magazines have been a medium to contend with for years because of their influence over readers, large subscription bases, and their power to generate big advertising dollars. By maximizing these 3 advertising strategies you’ll begin the profitable transformation of weblog into web property… Read on at problogger.net
Microblogging. It’s fun, it’s useful. TwitterTwitter, Shout’Em and other microblogging platforms are fast becoming not just another way to pass the time, but also tools that we use to collaborate with each other on a daily basis. However, it can get tedious when you do it daily. Here are 25 simple ways you can get your microblogging habits back on track… Read on at Shoutem.com
“Think of social media as a cocktail party,” says, David Meerman Scott, author of “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” and “World Wide Rave,” books about how to create buzz online. “You don’t go into the cocktail party and go into the middle room and scream at the top of your lungs and say, ‘Buy my products.’ … What works is you have some meaningful conversation first. And that’s just how social media works.”
If you decide to take the social-networking plunge, here are five ways to harness social media to help your business. Read on at bankrate
Start pages are part of a long tradition of web surfing. They can provide you with all the information you want in one place, giving you a start portal to the rest of the web. In fact, we recently provided a guide to start pages in our article 7 Ways to Create Your Own Social Start Page. Yeah, we’ve seen a lot of them in our time. Read on at Mashable…
According to Nielsen Online, social networks and blogs are now the 4th most popular kinds of online activities. 67% of the world online population are now visiting them and the time they’re spending on them is growing by three times the overall growth rate of the internet. Social networks are now visited more often than personal email is read. Read on at smashingmagazine…
You have insightful tweets, write amazing blog posts, and can make a viral video like it’s nobody’s business. So why don’t you have 500,000 followers, 50,000 views per video, and your own personal social media army? Read on at Mashable…
can be, it can also be both addictive and a major distraction. Many times in the past I’ve tried to write a blog post or work on some other big project and I’d lose my focus because I had Twitter open and kept getting drawn to it, wanting to tweet something, see what others were tweeting or just reply to somebody. Of course, this is a common and well documented problem with most social media sites, but I’ve found Twitter to be particularly bad, if for no other reason that it’s so simple and quick to use.
