Social Media and Networking, Social Media Marketing, Neurosocial and Neuronetworking (neoglisms)... Integrating technology, social interaction, and the creative sharing of words, pictures, videos and audio. This builds empathy and/or new meaning among communities, as people share their stories, and gain understanding through the sharing process.

Erika, Technology Goddess, says, "Web 2.0 as a platform for Social Media informational connection is quickly moving into Web 3.0, where the empathic sharing process of Social Media connects beyond information through knowledge and semantic intelligence across platform silos. Business and Corporate Social Media strategies will need to acquire the new technologies, content enlightenment and business social networking strategies that place them at the center of knowledge-centric content to stay competitive in their markets."

Twitter Inundated: Social Media Plays Critical Role In Mumbai

Twitter, and Social Media have today, come of age. Even before the terrorist attacks on Mubai, India broke mainstream media, social media sites like Twitter were inundated with a huge volume of messages providing eyewitness accounts, updates, live reporting of lists of the dead and injured from hospitals in Mumbai and tweets pleaing for blood doners to come to the hospitals as casualities mounted. With over 6 million users, an estimated 80 tweets providing eyewitness accounts were being sent every 5 seconds from Mubai.

Neha Viswanathan, a former regional editor for Southeast Asia and a volunteer at Global Voices, told CNN.com, “Even before I actually heard of it on the news I saw stuff about this on Twitter.

Several people who were trapped inside the hotel were tweeting their locations asking for help, and another was tweeting that terrorists were asking for the hotel rooms of American citizens and holding them hostage on the floor.

CNN.com summed it up; “It was the day social media appeared to come of age and signaled itself as a news-gathering force to be reckoned with.”

Twitter users mobilized immediately tweeting phone numbers for helplines for family members with loved ones caught up in the attacks, and tweeters were key in quickly creating lists of the dead and injured beteween hospitals which were quickly posted online in real time. Twitter users posted at hospitals kept stock of blood supplies and pleaded for volunteers to come down and donate blood as stocks ran low with directions to the hospital.

Twitter user “naomieve” wrote: “Mumbai is not a city under attack as much as it is a social media experiment in action.”

Twitter was not the only social media site that played a critical role in the hours after the attacks began.

Google Maps showed the key locations and buildings being held with links to news stories, eyewitness accounts and links to images, as Flickr provided a streaming feed of haunting images live from the attacks. CNN reporters and other major broadcasters uploaded their Flickr images as well.

One of the major drawbacks, as in any situation where information is being virally spread, it’s likely that some of the posts on Twitter were unsubstantiated rumor or inaccuracies.

One major news website had egg on it’s face after reporting a couple of the inaccurate tweets, one of which was a tweet that circulated saying the Indian Gvt. was asking Twitter users to please stop tweeting live because of security issues.

It was suggested at one point as the Twitter-fury esclated that the terrorists were using Twitter to get information about what the Indian security forces were doing, which led to an avalanche of Twitter users tweeting, “Die DIE DIE if you are reading this!” Some Twitter users and bloggers later complained it was an avalanche of tweets and re-tweets that was hard to sort through.

One thing is clear: Twitter and Social Media have proven that social news sharing, can be faster and more critical in moments of emergency than mainstream media, and that the news is no longer under the global control of mainstream media, but in the hands of the people. At least in the hands of people with Blackberries or text-enabled cell phones.

~ Erika, http://TechnologyGoddess.com Social Media News

Social media Stories like This one…

Social Media Marketing is an Ecology Lifecycle, Not a Sales Cycle

In my research of Social Media I have developed an ecology lifecycle plan that goes beyond the sales cycle and into the real essence of what we are really dealing with in social networking: a social media ecology or living ecological lifecycle. Your business success depends not on approaching social marketing as a sales cycle, but in seeing the full ecology of your environment, your business and the interactions of all communities within that.  Stay tuned for more information on this in the near future here on Technology Goddess. In the meantime, here are my latest thoughts on the Social Media Ecology Lifecycle I have developed and written as a guest author over at Corp. Social Networking.

Read more

Is Your Business Disappointing the 93% of Consumers Expecting You In Social Networks?

Your business might be missing out on the majority of consumers who are expecting to find your company in social media networks and furthermore expecting to interact with you there.  A new research study just conducted two weeks ago from Cone reveals that if your company does not have a social media presence online, you are missing out on the 93% of Americans who believe you should, and the 85% of Americans who are expecting to interact with your company through social media.

Companies like Corp. Social Networking are allowing businesses that are savvy enough to realize that having no social media presence is not only passing on a marketing opportunity, but literally leaving the 93% of consumers expecting them to be there disappointed.

The study entitled: 2008 Business in Social Media Study, should shatter any doubts whether corporate social media interaction is necessary, revealing that 60% of Americans are now interacting with companies using social media and one in four are interacting more than once a week.

Customer satisfaction is also now proven to be higher for businesses with a social media presence as the study reveals that 56% of consumers feel a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they interact through social media.

Mike Hollywood, director of new media for Cone commented on the study results. “The news here is that Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media. It isn’t an intrusion into their lives, but rather a welcome channel for discussion.”

More numbers from the Cone study reveal that Consumers believe:

• Companies should use social networks to solve their problems (43%).
• Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%) via social media.
• Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%) through social media.
• Companies should market to consumers (25%) using social media.

The Cone study was conducted online September 11-12 2008 and surveyed 1,092 adults. 

It also showed that the most lucrative higher-income households are expecting social media interaction with companies they do business with. Households with incomes of $75K+ believe that companies should seek to reach them via social media and two-thirds of the wealthiest households say they feel a stronger connection to brands they can interact with online.

What does this mean for your business?

It means that in the hearts and minds of your consumers, social media has gone beyond being a marketing option, and is now considered a marketing necessity.

They are expecting you to be present in social networking communities, to interact with, listen to and engage them in meaningful conversations, and yes, they are also expecting you to market to them there.

Are you going to say “no” to the 93% of consumers expecting you to join the conversation?

Erika
More Social Media On Technology Goddess
Corp. Social Networking 
ThemeZoom Blog

Facebook Opens Public Listings to Search Engines - Plans to Integrate Microsoft Search

Last night Facebook quietly opened it’s public Groups, Wall Posts, Events and Discussion topics to search engines for indexing purposes. This move converts Facebook’s consumer-generated treasure of categorized content into a search engine optimization source and Facebook expects it to increase traffic from organic search. Read more

Charles Heflin Launches Corp Social Networking

Technology Goddess is pleased to announce the launch of CorpSocialNetworking.com a full service “social media blueprint” service created by Charles Heflin and Jon Keel with supporting roles from Russell Wright of Theme Zoom . Their focus is helping businesses propel their online presence, drive more traffic to their sites, increase visibility in the marketplace and more effectively position their brand through Social Media.

The team has spent the last year catagorizing and mapping every Social Network, researching and developing a Social Networking Blueprint Formula that is customized and unique to each individual business model. It includes step-by-step plan of activities you need to take (or have taken on your behalf) on a daily basis to bring traffic and search engine rankings to your web site or to increase your visibility and brand position.

You will see tons of corporate social media information over the next few months from Charles and team.  In the meantime, here is a free audio interview with Charles Heflin and Russell Wright about social media.

Charles Heflin and Russell Wright Social Media Interview

Also, here is a sneak peek directly to the Corp Social Networking Webinar Launch

Corp Social Media Webinar Launch

- Erika, TechnologyGoddess (Aka, Hot Blogger Calender Nominee)

Don’t be a Twit on Twitter: Tweet Tips for Marketers

At SES in San Jose, Andy Beal gave a great presentation on Twitter for Marketers, and this morning I was lucky enough to find it in my inbox. He’s decided to share so that we can all take a hint or two on the difference between the Marketing Twits and the Tweeters on Twitter. Read more

Social Media Fun

I found a really fun social media site: YearbookYourself.com that lets you upload your photo and then it automatically imposes it onto yearbook photos from the last 60 years. (As if our yearbook photos the first time around weren’t BAD enough!) Because I am just totally precocious, and love playing around on these amusing sites while I think about things like, oh, the mysteries of the Universe… I just had to make sure that MY photo wasn’t the only one giggled at this morning. (see below).

You can make your own yearbook photos, save them and download them, and waste a lot of time at work today, at Yearbook Yourself.

So have at it kiddos, and Happy Monday!

Erika

Social Media Creating New Forms of Learning and Education

Internet Evolution has moved us into a world where the line between producers and consumers of information and knowledge has become blurred, and it has shifted knowledge seeking behavior from looking for information on the web, to looking for PEOPLE with information and knowledge on the web. This is creating groundbreaking ways of supporting multiple modes of learning, and changing the way Universities are looking at online education. Read more

Preview Videos of Google Friend Connect Social Networking

Google is starting to roll into preview mode on it’s Google Friend Connect service. Friend Connect is a new set of tools from Google that allows any website owner to add social networking to their website by simply entering a simple snippet of code. Read more

DoggySpace Social Networking for Computer-Savvy Canines

For all those happy puppy owners who don’t have enough social life of their own, now they can at least create one for their dog. In a strange “pups are people” universe, Doggyspace.com allows users to create profiles, and share photos and videos of their pups. Read more

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