Digital influencers are building strong communities within mainstream social networking services. Here are some of the trends.
User-Generated Platforms on SNS
It’s time to reassess which Facebook groups you’re part of and which Twitter hashtags you are or aren’t using. The Web’s early adopters are carving out strong communities within mainstream social networks like Facebook and Twitter, keeping insider information abuzz on the inside. Facebook groups and Twitter hashtags are nothing new. But early adopters are now defining groups on social networking [...]

Foursquare, the growing location-based social networking game that allows users to “check in” at various venues, was plagued with reports of users getting robbed earlier this year. Mashable even did an article about it.
If there was anyone who doubted this social networking game would survive the backlash, they haven’t been to the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW). This year’s conference has only just begun, and Foursquare has a huge following here. The site experienced an extraordinary day yesterday as [...]

The whole idea behind new media and social networking is to form deeper relationships with customers, which can be cultivated into a strong bond and hopefully brand loyalty. We use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, e-mail, blogs, direct mail and other media to stay connected to them. We spend millions to form and cultivate the relationships. But in the process, do we forget about the relationship itself?
Every Saturday my town holds a farmer’s market in the town hall parking lot. Local farms [...]

The 50 pages of the latest Pew Internet & American Life Project’s update on American news consumption are full of intriguing information. When you realize that the creation and shaping of “news” is an integral part of marketing, the impact of this study on our work is quite significant.
According to the study:

37 percent of Internet users have actively contributed to the creation, commentary, or dissemination of news:
25 percent of Internet users have commented on an online news story or blog [...]

Foursquare (fourth link) is getting more users every day, and I believe it’s not going to end anytime soon. About ChatRoulette—though a couple ChatRoulette-like sites have come up these last few weeks, the original is getting more and more popular, and it’s starting to interest advertisers (last link).

“Top 10 Reasons to Care About Social Media” on Soshable

“The State of the Internet” on Vimeo (a really cool video that sums up a lot of things; a must-watch!)

“Twitter Turns On the Stream for Big [...]

“Why Brands Are Becoming Media” on Mashable

“Media’s Evolving Spheres of Discovery” on BuzzMachine

“8 Types of People That Belong on Twitter” on Inc.com

“Social Gaming Integral to Social Networking” on MarketingProfs

“Super Mario Trend” on YouTube (press the pause button at each black screen to read the trend being illustrated)

I found out this week that a friend of mine died. At age 35, I’m too young to start reading the obituaries; I found out by reading his thread on Facebook.
I’ve reported in the past that each day, I experience something truly phenomenal through social media and networking—but I never even considered that I would experience this, at least not this early in life.
“P”* lived in Dallas and was one of my more than 350 friends on Facebook, spread across [...]

Cause marketing is one of the biggest trends shaping our industry these days, right up there with social media. Can the two work together? Can social networking support social responsibility?
A growing chorus of advocates would say yes. (I count myself among them: I spearheaded Tweet to ReMIND, a Twitter-based fundraising effort for the Bob Woodruff Foundation that brought in more than $172,000 for helping wounded military personnel transition back into society.) USA Today reported earlier this year about a new [...]

As I’ve been traveling and researching the ways people socialize online around the world, I’ve been interested in the differences in users’ attitudes and behaviors. This is a case where the old adage “Think globally, act locally” rings true. It’s not just about various venues for social networking (for instance, Facebook in the U.S. versus Orkut most everywhere else); it’s about fundamentally different expectations and approaches to navigating the social Web.
As British tech-trendspotter Tom Smith put it in a presentation [...]

I wrote in my last post about the changing social media landscape and what the future might hold. The results of MicroDialogue’s survey for Euro RSCG of 1,228 social media users and analysis of thousands of conversations in online communities, along with a number of recent news articles, point to a major shift in user attitudes—and to some serious challenges.
It’s remarkable how much people have changed in last five years. They have new definitions of what’s normal and sociable, and [...]