A re-post from Soshable | Social Media Blog

This is a guest post by Nate Bagley.

One of the biggest problems currently facing many major Social Media sites (aside from trolls) is monetization. They thrive on VC and Angel funding while trying to find a way to be cash flow positive without turning off scores of users with intrusive ads. The most obvious example of this is the Twitters.

Twitter has yet to turn a profit, because they are avoiding “selling out” by diluting the value of their amazing service with a bombardment of ads or making their service subscription based. The simplicity of the site, however, doesn’t allow for many other monetization opportunities.

Unfortunately the data generated by Twitter isn’t valuable enough to be sold. Twitter Search allows companies to obtain a real-time sampling of the sentiment surrounding their brand. They get a taste as to what people are saying, but the information is rarely measurable or actionable. Data that can’t be measured is virtually useless.

The value of Facebook, on the other hand, is not only the sheer number of pre-pubescent digital farmers, mobsters and vampires using the site, but the amount of data they make freely accessible to advertisers.

Read the rest of this article on this social media blog.

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Nate a senior in the Communications Department at Utah Valley University and has spent the last few years establishing a reputation for himself as one of the most influential Social Media voices in Utah.

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Sure, social media takes a lot of time.  Merging Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media options can be challenging.  But what if you could cut that time down significantly by cross-leveraging content?

Too many companies are reinventing the content wheel for every social outpost they maintain. A better approach is to create a content ecosystem that allows you to repurpose and cascade your best information.

Instead of a series of self-contained initiatives, build yourself a content ladder.

Here are 5 steps to get there:

Read the rest of this article on SocialMediaExaminer.com

Social media goes beyond Facebook or Twitter.  It’s about connecting with people and developing relationships.  And sometimes those connections can be literally face-to-face!

Social media allows us to make connections faster and over greater distances, but there is power in social media to bring us closer to our neighbors, too.  One of the ways to do that is with a Tweetup.

What Is a Tweetup?

There are some things that just can’t be done with a 140-character limit.

A Tweetup is an in-person meeting of Twitter users. It has also become a colloquialism for any in-person networking event organized using social media.

For example, there are lots of events on Facebook that result in large parties. One I was recently involved with is Bring Gary Vaynerchuk to Chicago. The whole thing was organized through Facebook. The end result was to meet Gary in Chicago, along with a lot of other entrepreneurs, networkers and wine lovers.

Read the rest of this article on SocialMediaExaminer.com.

It has been widely reported that Twitter will soon be unveiling a monetization solution.

Speculation has been rampant with several blogs making predictions on what they think the solution will consist of.

Twitter certainly has many ways to go about revenue generation. At the end of 2009 – Twitter inked deals with Google and Bing to syndicate their Tweets to those respective engines. It was reported that Twitter was paid a bounty for this data. And, more recently, Yahoo inked a deal to publish Tweets on their network of websites. While these deals can bake in a revenue stream for Twitter – it most certainly isn’t the end goal.

According to Alexa, Twitter is the 12th most visited site on the internet. This traffic comes primarily from three different functions. The first, would be users that go to Twitter to post status updates. The second, would be from users that go to Twitter to read updates from the people that they are following. The third, is people that go to Twitter to use the search engine – as a way to see what people are saying right now about a certain subject.

Twitter won’t be looking to generate revenue off of the first group, because those are people whom are trying to communicate on Twitter. The second group, could easily be monetized, as an ad unit could show up within a users friends timeline. This would be a challenging solution because it is difficult to target an ad to a user whom is simply reading updates from all of the people they are following. Plus, a continued problem on Twitter is that there is a lot of noise posted by followers, so if ads were also added into the friends timeline, less people would go there to read what their followers are saying. So, the Twitter search traffic is the most likely place Twitter will go for monetization.

The renaissance of the web happened around 2002 due to the success of search advertising. Companies such as Overture, which was later acquired by Yahoo, had proven to web advertisers that search traffic converts. This was the business model that Google would deploy to monetize their ever popular search engine. So, with distribution in place on sites such as Google and Yahoo – and advertisers moving more and more online marketing dollars into the search marketplace – a successful web business economy was produced.

I think Twitter will go down a similar path. People who perform a search at Twitter can easily be targeted, and this is traffic that advertisers will want. Plus, by displaying ads in its search results, Twitter won’t disrupt its core functionality of Tweeting and reading Tweets from followers. Getting advertisers won’t be difficult, but it could take time, so Twitter could potentially publish another search engines advertisers (such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing) at the get go as a way to start generating income from day one. Then, over time, Twitter could sign up its own advertisers directly to publish into their search results. Another option would be for Twitter to go the Facebook route and only display ads from advertisers that signed up directly on Twitter from day one. Either way, down the line, Twitter could figure out a way to distribute their advertisers into users friends timelines potentially in an adsense like unit down the side of the page. But, at the get go, Twitter has the traffic on its search engine, which they can easily target ads too, and that’s where I think the ads will show up.

For added revenue, it has also been speculated that Twitter will offer up its advertisers to applications using its API, and it would then share the revenue with the application. So, applications that interact with Twitter, such as Sency or Seesmic; would have the option to promote Twitter advertisers for a cut of the profits.

Twitter hasn’t focused on making money as of yet. They have been concerned with their platform, site traffic, and third party developers. However, when you are the 12th most visited site on the web, and when a large portion of your traffic is search traffic – you are going to easily be able to generate revenue. It is also important to note, that real time web traffic won’t be as value able to advertisers as traditional search traffic – because it is less commercial in nature. So, while revenue will easily be generated by Twitter, I don’t foresee the revenue made per visit being on par with what the traditional search engines have been able to produce.

In December of 09’, Google implemented real time results into their website. This can benefit the user because if you happen to be searching for a hot topic – you will usually see real time results streaming on the results pages at Google.com.

However, Google is just mixing in real time results sometimes, and there are a slew of real time search engines , such as Sency, which are completely focused on real time results. So where will users go for real time searches?

One take-away from the headaches that came with Google Buzz is that while Google is trying to get users to interact insider Gmail – people have gotten use to using Gmail for email. People like interacting on Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace because that is where they have always interacted socially. Gmail, has been used for private communication – so thus far – people haven’t been as excited about interacting in a different way through Gmail.

Often, internet users get comfortable and use to a website for a given task – and those habits and built in branding are hard to change. Imagine if CNN.com started focusing on just social media news – I’ll bet a lot of people would be confused and and many people would still go to Soshable for their social media news. So, it is important to focus on what you are good at.

The real time web I believe will have a similar path. Google is far and away the #1 traditional search engine. That is where users will always migrate to for traditional searches. However, the real time web offers a different type of search – with different types of results. And, if you mix in real time results with traditional web results, it may end up confusing the user and it also may end up making it more difficult for the user to get the info they are actually looking for.

If you want to find out what people are saying right now about any given subject– a real time search is the way to go. If you want to find out what the hottest links are right now about a given keyword – a real time search is also the way to go. There are several engines focusing on bringing this real time information to you. And, you don’t have to be a member of any social network to perform a search on the real time web. Traditional engines, that try to mix in real time results – won’t be able to “know” for sure whether a searcher wants real time info or traditional info. It’s the user that knows what they want – and real time search is so unique, that for now at least, the real time searches are best performed on a site entirely focused on the real time.

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Read more about Real Time Search on this blog.

Water coolers.  Pre-Internet, we met around our respective office water coolers for commraderie and to dish the latest office gossip.  Those water coolers were mini-communities where like-minded professionals met daily.

Fast forward to 2010. Internet water coolers are just a mouse click away, according to a recent online New York Times article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/business/media/24cooler.html?hp . These “water coolers”, “birdbaths”, whatever you want to call them, come in the form of Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.

In fact, the combination of Social Media usage with other media (i.e. television and the music Industry, to name two) is the latest buzz among industry leaders. As the article points out, “The Recording Academy, which presents the Grammys, mounted a digital campaign to promote the awards show this year, signing up Facebook fans and monitoring Grammy-related Twitter messages.”

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allow people to get involved in communities that are larger than simply their local physical presence as well as communities that might not exist in a certain locale. They also allow for people to take place in real-time “conversation” and join ongoing conversation for a real group interaction. Just ask any “social media junkie”… they feel “disconnected” when they haven’t been active in their communities for whatever reason.

Another great example of this was this past Super Bowl. Millions of people met and took part in conversations that would never would have taken place had it not been for social media. People discussed the game, the commercials, the halftime show and the hoopla in general. Fans and rivals alike shared in the fun. It simply didn’t matter if that you might not be in New Orleans or New England (or Miami for that matter)… the cities became larger than themselves. This age of connectivity is amazing and invigorating to say the least!

Play like the big boys in the Recording Academy and wage your own super-effective and state-of-the-art digital campaign. Contact Chris Isaac (me) at birdbathBUZZ cisaac@birdbathBUZZ.com.

Those who have embraced social media have, for the most part, truly embraced it.

Those who haven’t, haven’t.

This great video by timetogetsocial gives an “in your face” version of reasons to care about social media as a business. Watch the video and then see the transcript of the reasons after the jump.

Here is a breakdown of the reasons listed in the video:

1. Social media is now the number one online activity, beating porn and personal email to the top spot.

2. Because 2/3 of the global Internet population visit social networks.

3. Because time spent on social networks is growing at 3X the overall Internet rate, accounting for 10% of all Internet time.

4. Because online, including social media, has become the most influential source in helping consumers make purchasing decisions.

5. Because millions of people are creating content for the social web.

6. Because the next 3 billion consumers will access the Internet from a mobile device.

7. Because Facebook is now the operating system of the social web.

8. Because Twitter believes it will have 1 billion users by 2012.

9. Because one way marketing has had its day.

10. Because in almost all cases social media is free.

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Read more about being social on this social media blog.

Facebook and Twitter are the two power houses of the Social Media Industry. Social Media has become a new medium within the Media family, its siblings being Radio, Television and Newspapers.

What Makes Up Social Media?

So, what makes up Social Media? Metaphorically, Social Media is the body that holds the various limbs that enables the Industry to grow, and allows you to reach outside of the box and communicate with the world. The “limbs” I am referring to are what we call Social Networks.

Social Networks are made up of sites that you are probably already familiar with, such as; YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Mixx, Reddit, and many others that are not listed here, two of those being, Twitter and Facebook. Each social network enables a person to share content, whether it is photos, videos, music, news or conversation. A social network permits you to engage with other people via the Internet. So what is the heart of social media? You are. You are the very reason social media is alive, it is you who pumps the information out into the social networks and in return, it is you that keeps social media breathing.

What Is the Difference Between Twitter and Facebook?

Twitter was originally created for texting purposes via a cell phone which is where the 140 characters come into play, for texting on a cell phone; you are only allotted 160 characters. Twitter included your username and therefore left you with 140 characters to express whatever happens to be on your mind. Twitter is in real-time, meaning that you will receive information as soon as someone you’re following tweets.

Facebook is more complex. It was originally created for internal use at a University, but as its popularity ignited, Facebook as we know it today, was born. Facebook is not only a place you can socially engage through status updates that are longer than 140 characters, but it also offers socially inclined games, profiles and pages that initiate sharing in whatever form of media you choose.

Both social networks offer a different format to express oneself, although Twitter is more commonly known for sharing news links and is becoming a predominant resource for breaking news, people still make connections and utilize it to talk about the events of their day or to promote their business in a fast and for many, more convenient way. Which is why I compare it to a drive-thru, it is quick, easy and you always leave full.

Facebook is more like a sit down restaurant, a place where you get lost in its menu of choices, from applications, status updates, photos, games, videos, pages and many other tempting interactions. Therefore you need to sit down and dig in.

Whether you crave Twitter more or salivate over Facebook, we seem to be starved for these two social networks and for those who use them, you may tend to agree that you can’t help but eat them up everyday.

If you are new to Social Media and unsure which social networks to begin with, I would suggest sampling both Twitter and Facebook, for in their own ways, they will satisfy your social appetite.

Erin Ryan has a passion for Social Media and is currently working within the industry as a Social Media Specialist. Contact Erin on Twitter @4u2wear2

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Read more on this social media blog.

This Social Media Infographic from Flowtown really tells the story, visually and through words. It is one of the best representations of social media that I’ve ever seen.

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See more amazing Social Media Infographics on Soshable.

If you haven’t heard, Twitter hit 50 million tweets per day.

If you haven’t heard about it, you’re not paying attention to the social media blogosphere, because EVERYONE is talking about it, at least the big players. Below, you’ll see that there was definitely a headline of choice in declaring the news.

JUST IN CASE you didn’t hear, Twitter is averaging over 50 million tweets per day, something that is relatively unexpected considering recent negativity regarding the lack of growth of the network.

If this is any indication, Twitter is still the golden child and reports of its demise are greatly overstated.

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Read more about social media on this social media blog.