Just as it was the de rigueur necessity for a company to have a website a few years back, it has now become apparent that companies need to use social marketing strategies to establish a direct link to their consumers. Yet, with the growing array of platforms and tools, the choices to achieve those relationships can be overwhelming. Importance of Social Media Originally, the domain of individuals, a place where people could upload their dog’s picture and post a video of their snoring baby; today, more and more businesses are experimenting with social media, as these platforms are perceived as low-cost but popular means of attracting n...

Twitter is certainly among the top websites on the web and just to stay in the competition along with top social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter has decided to go ahead and acquire Tweetdeck. Although, there was a lot of speculation about the deal but it has been recently announced and confirmed that Twitter has bought Tweetdeck for around $40 million and now this desktop application is right under the wing of this giant micro-blogging company. Many people were not too sure that the deal might go through because there were many rumors and speculations surrounding the deal. However, CNN Money has now confirmed the rep...

Twitter Phenomenon Twitter has become insanely popular, almost to the point of being nauseating for those who would rather never hear the word "tweet" ever again. Nevertheless, the micro-blogging site shows no signs of slowing down and seemingly no chance of bowing out to competition (such as the open source identi.ca). Many of those who use Twitter, whether for business, pleasure, or both, would testify in a court of law that it is one of the most useful tools of the 21st century. It connects them in ways they never could before. Whether the Twitter user is actress Alyssa Milano, interacting with her fans in a safe, friendly environme...

The ever-growing social networking site Facebook has agreed to add a "panic button" application that its users can install.  The button will connect the user to the UK-based Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center (CEOP) and provide the users with advice for staying safe while using online services. Facebook, which has already been under fire for its privacy issues, has also received complaints from child advocacy groups that believe it should do more to safeguard children from would-be predators and others who might seek to exploit naive Facebook teenagers. Facebook users between ages 13 and 18 will be presented with a ...

Twitter for Business For many, Twitter is nothing but a way to talk about their day or what they did the night before, and people spend hours doing just that. Is that all there is to it? Not exactly! While all this petty talk is going on, businesses are flourishing using Twitter. For them, it is a means to expand their network, connect with customers, and use it for promotion or a service offering. For most “traditional” marketers, marketing entails cold calls, print media, radio, TV, email blasts and direct mail. While these methods worked earlier, now consumers have become smarter. Now, they choose what to hear and what not to...

A new poll by Sophos found that 60% of the 1,588 respondents are thinking of closing their Facebook accounts, as controversy over its privacy practices (or lack thereof) continues to surface. Facebook privacy issues are not new, and the past couple of years have witnessed numerous privacy scares, mostly in correlation with Facebook's rise to social networking prominence. Sophos, the security firm, admitted that the poll was not even scientific, and the statistic that would probably be more interesting is the one that shows how many Facebook users even know about the privacy controversies.  Moreover, the users who took the Sophos poll w...