But as Google always does, this new orkut will be available only to selected few users. These users can invite others to have an experience of the new look orkut. Orkut even has a community for those who would like to take a preview of the new version and where one can be listed to be invited.
http://www.merinews.com/article/refreshing-new-look-orkut-launched-by-google/15787392.shtml
http://www.thelatestnews.in/new-improvements-of-orkut/21204.html
This article covers few good & bad incidents of using social Media & Social Networking for business.
My personal view is whether or not you are using social networking & social media for your business, people are still talking about you. They will not wait for you to create your social network to talk good or bad about you and your business.
When you create your own social network there are more chances that a happy customer will comment & kudos your business. Unhappy customer anyways find every way to escalate.
You could say Twitter and Facebook have thrown a wild card into a world of carefully crafted marketing messages. Witness the following incidents:
_ South Point managers read a gambler's rant on South Point's Facebook page.
"Please folks ... do N-O-T gamble in this casino. They run some of the TIGHTEST machines in Las Vegas. I LOSE almost E-V-E-R-Y time I try playing at South Point."
But before they responded, another customer posted: "If you don't like the South Point that much — then just don't go there. But the rest of us LOVE the place ... better luck next time."
Read more: Casinos use social media sites to reach customers
Twitter just released a new feature "Twitter List Beta". You can create public or private list to organize people you follow. In the list you can add people you already following as well as people you are not yet following.
The best part, you can view other people's public list and follow their list.So now will have options to "Follow" people as well as "Follow This List".
Twitter define list feature as:
Lists are timelines you build yourself, consisting of friends, family, co-workers, sports teams, you name it.
Now a days Facebook is not just a teen hangout place. It has become a business community where business started networking with other business & their customers. More & more business are now opening their Facebook profile pages.
To support these business need, their is a huge need for custom Facebook apps that can help business to perform their task quickly and effectively.
If you are a software vendor or a hobbyist then you may want to explore Facebook apps. You will find that building a small Facebook apps is very easy.
Microsoft has also developed a Facebook Developers kits and quick start guide that will give you a jump start. Below are some reference links to get started.
Facebook Developers Kit – Introduction
Facebook Developer Toolkit - Version 2.1
Getting Started with the Facebook Developer Toolkit
Also check our previous Article Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0 – Open Source
If you know more reference links then please share them using the comment section.
367 Hospitals in US Now Use Social Media - http://www.marketingcharts.com/print/367-hospitals-in-us-now-use-social-media-10583/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=textlink
One in Four Hospital, Urgent Care Patients Influenced by Social Media - http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/one-in-four-hospital-urgent-care-patients-influenced-by-social-media-8847/
Disqus (dis·cuss • dĭ-skŭs') is a service that allow blog & websites owner ability to better manage the comments of their blog or website. It allow allow them to track discussion about their blog or website which happen outside their blog or website such as on Twitter, Facebook, Friendster etc.
Disqus offers two services that help improve discussions on the web:
- For Publishers
Disqus Comments is a comment system and moderation tool for your site. This service lets you add next-gen community management and social web integrations to any site on any platform. Hundreds of thousands of sites, from small blogs to large publications, rely on Disqus Comments for their discussion communities.
- For Commenters
Disqus Profile lets you get the most out of the comments you post on sites all around the web. Take back control of what you've written by tracking and managing your comments all in one place. You can also use Disqus Profile to effortless follow and reply to what people are talking about, on and across sites.
The installation was very smooth and took only few clicks to install. Remember to take backup of your blog template and blog post before installing. Following are screenshot of the install process.
Every year Time makes a list of best blogs in the world. They chose 25 blogs from millions of blogs in the world, spanning politics, housekeeping, astronomy and everything in between. Below if a direct link to the TIME website for the list. I also copied it to easy comparison of last year best with this year best blogs.
PostRank Analytics allow you to view and track your visitor statistics accross your website and on various social networking websites like Twitter, Facebook, delicus etc. As per their research, 80% of discussion about your website & blog happen on other social network websites and not on your own websites.
PostRank Analytics integrate your existing Google Analytics account with PostRank and also track visitors activity on other social networking website. For example it shows how many people bookmarked your your website and blog post, how many post in Twitter & Facebook.
Read more details at their PostRank Analytics Website or at their PostRank Blog.
Social Media Governance has compiled a list of social media policies by various companies at http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php. They also have categories the social media policies by healthcare companies that includes social media policies of following healthcare companies
Adventist Health System is also has building their social media policies and is under final reviews. As a health care organization it is very important of us to make sure no one is sharing things in his/her Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blos etc that is not appropriate.
Related web links:
Online Database of Social Media Policies
Social Media Policies from 80+ Organizations
Should Your Company Have a Social Media Policy?
This is a very good article by Josh - HOW TO: Make Facebook Your Company Newsroom. As I normally tells that you can use social media and social websites to greatly enhance your web presence at no extra cost. Just be cautions of side effects be open for positive criticism.
Ranjan Dash was a software engineer at Network Programs (I) Ltd., Noida, India when he decided to leave his job and join MS in Computer Science program at Dexter University, USA. Then he switched to MS+PHD program.
He is recently named in 2009 Young Innovators Under 35 for his Y-Carbon. Y-Carbon, a startup based in King of Prussia, PA, is founded by him to commercialize the technique.
http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?Cand=T&TRID=780
In India Today:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/61928/LATEST NEWS/5+Indians+in+top+young+innovator+list.html?page=0
Yahoo! 360 is now closed and blogs and connections on the Yahoo! 360 is no longer available. Yahoo provided an easy migration option from Yahoo 360 to Yahoo profiles. Yahoo also provided options to download your blog on your machine or move it to a different website like work press. If you have a blog or Yahoo 360 account you will need to do it before August 19, 2009.
I just finished migrating my Yahoo 360 blog to Yahoo Profiles. BTW Yahoo Profiles looks good and they have some good features like connectivity with twitter and other services. Check it out.
NYTimes Appoints First Social Media Editor - Jennifer Preston has been appointed the first Social Media Editor of the New York Times. It has come to this; the flagship institution of traditional journalism now has ...
Link - http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/nytimes_appoints_social_media_editor.php
Thanks Matthew Fraser for sharing.
For the people comfortable with coding and uses Facebook may want to consider looking the open source “Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0”. This toolkit was originally developed by Clarity Consulting Inc for the Microsoft Visual Studio Express Team.
Download: Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0 is available for download at http://facebooktoolkit.codeplex.com/
Guide: How to Use the Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0 - http://www.devtacular.com/articles/bkonrad/how-to-use-the-facebook-developer-toolkit-20/
Facebook application development in ASP.NET - http://www.stevetrefethen.com/wiki/Default.aspx?Page=Facebook%20application%20development%20in%20ASP.NET&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
Sample: Facebook Developer Application - http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2345053339
Alternative Options: For those who don’t want to spend lot of time in coding may consider using Blogfuse Facebook App Creator.
You can create a Facebook App quickly using Blogfuse Facebook App Creator simple wizard. For example, you can create a simple application for your blog to displays the latest posts from the blog on your Facebook profile. This will allow your friends and other followers to easily follow and share your blog's posts.
You may also want to check another post “Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0 – Open Source”.
(Pricing details are as of 15 May 2009, please check http://blogfuse.com/subscribe/ for current pricing)
Single- $5/month (1 blog)
Subscribe w/ a FREE week trial period
Silver- $13/month (Up to 3 blogs)
Subscribe w/ a FREE week trial period
Gold- $18/month (Up to 5 blogs)
Subscribe w/ a FREE week trial period
Pro Blogger- $30/month (Up to 10 blogs)
Subscribe w/ a FREE week trial period
India Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will host The Cricket world cup 2011 together. India will host 29 of 49 matches. India will also host Cricket world cup 2011 final & semi final.
Sri Lanka will host 12 while Bangladesh will host 8. Bangladesh will also host the opening ceremony on February 18, 2011.
http://content.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/401840.html
The Digg Effect - http://www.bestrank.com/blog/the-digg-effect
Found this good article on social networking and social marketing.
Excerpt from website: Within the last 3 years Social Networks have taken the internet by storm. Startups have created enormous communities bringing millions of people together through user-friendly interfaces and applications. User's can create profiles and share pictures, music, friends, comments, personal information, favorite sites, and much more. Social Networks like Myspace.com, and Facebook.com have grown at exponential rates and continue to grow. In the past 10 years traditional forms of advertising have become a little more obsolete, and social networks have become an alternative route for reaching the masses. Large advertising agencies have turned to social networks as new marketing outlets because they have the ability to reach a large user base.
Read full Article - Top 10 Social Bookmarking Sites to Drive Traffic
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=195
