At first I thought it was a parody. Similar font size, a VERY UNDENIABLE closeness to the popular social networking site, and even the same blue color on my screen. But wait; it’s real.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, than Facebook got a big compliment in the form of a look-alike imitator in Uzbekistan, joining Russia’s VKontakte.

Dubbed Youface, the imitator of the largest social network is an upstart unleashed by 22-year-old Ayub Abdulloh in May, Time’s Techland reported.

Competitors of the land include a social network known as Muloqot, which requires users to give up a cell-phone number in order to establish an account and was established by the government.

It’s a salute and a simultaneously brash move that any young upstart in California would applaud. In a country that’s too far away for facebook to file a lawsuit worth the effort, YouFace just might succeed in the same way the original facebook has, which is probably what its creator was thinking from the start.

Source: http://allfacebook.com/youface_b90535

June 1, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

Recently, writer Steven Leckart coined the term “oversharenting” to refer to the omnificent practice of Gen-C (as in connected adults ages 18 to 34, per Nielsen) parents who overpost photos of their young children in curious circumstances.

He wrote in The Wall Street Journal:

Although privacy settings allow us to control which circle of friends has access to parts of our profiles, many people either don’t understand how to use them or prefer not to.

So there’s a wave of sentiment now about parents asking “When is too much, too much?”. The idea that you may be overstepping your boundaries when it comes to posting pictures of your kids without their consent is creeping into the Great Parenting Debate. Sure babies are always cute and adorable to look at. Why wouldn’t you want to share them with your friends? But the excessive picture posting may feel like too much, for some people.

The ease of social media’s sharing functionality erases the usual waiting period between the time one usually waits to think if it’s appropriate to share or not to share. Case in point: do you want to share potty training pictures with the world? How will that come back to bite your child when they apply for a job in twenty years and the recruiting person sees that photo?

A lot of parents don’t tend to think that one day the adorable child will grow up and may want to delete some photos of their childhood for whatever reasons they may have. Taking that choice away from them until they’re old enough to complain is a question each parent with a social media profile needs to address now.

Likewise, friends of parents also need to be informed about their preferences when posting pictures of the child online. How much information is permissible? What’s the best way to make that request firmly and yet tactfully at the same time? Sounds like a Dear Abby situation to me (if it hasn’t already been written in).

Source: http://createasocialbuzz.com/wp-admin/post-new.php

June 1, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

It had to happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before the feds took notice of the wealth of information to be mined from the many posts people put out there. There have been several cases where criminals would brag about their crimes on the social network (you think they wouldn’t be worried about that) and police have used these as evidence to file charges against offenders.

Now the FBI has formally requested to monitor the email, messages, posts and photos of people on facebook in order to catch potential troublemakers before they do damage to a lot of lives around them.

It was founding father Benjamin Franklin who first wrote “Three can keep a secret if two are dead.” If he lived today, Franklin might have added “Also if none of them are stupid enough to videotape the secret and/or put it on the Internet.”

There are already plenty of cases where police arrested bank robbers, store burglars and other criminals who might’ve got away with it had they not bragged about their crimes on Facebook.

But in such cases, the police usually got involved only after someone else told them something to the effect of, “Look, this guy’s Facebook has evidence of that crime you’ve been investigating.” Cops generally aren’t in the habit of mass-monitoring all social media accounts of all residents in their vicinities, and wouldn’t have the manpower to do so anyway.

But the FBI is seeking to develop just such an automatic mass-monitoring computer application, according to a request for information it released on Jan. 19.

The request filed not only emcompasses facebook but the entire scope of the internet that isn’t designated as a private space. In theory, other social networks, blogs or anything you don’t get billed for each month will be sifted through by the software and any possible use of key words tied to ongoing investigations will trigger the software to any users. As with the great debate on social media vs privacy; the question of how much is too much and when does the line get drawn is once more coming up for discussion.

While it’s true that many possible criminals could be caught with the approval of this request, it could also just mean that criminals will be taught to adapt and go underground with their facebook activities. Being more secretive is part of a criminal’s skill sets (if you can call it that). Usually the petty offenders are the ones who’ve gotten caught—- what about the bigger fish with multiple layers of money, thugs and connections to influence their getting away with it?

This FBI request is sure to be monitored closely by many civil liberties groups, as well as those who take umbrage at the restrictions being placed on the use of the internet. There have been many missteps on the part of the authorities coming down on innocent civilians due to a mistaken error. One thing that needs to be ensured is that we’re sure who the real enemy is, and not go recklessly after someone who happened to use too many trigger words in their status updates.

Source: http://www.dailydot.com/news/fbi-plans-scour-internet-incriminating-comments/

May 28, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

In an industry most tend to associate with the romance of the past, and where being vintage is always a better thing than being new, many people would be surprised to find out that the winemaking business is rather modern. In its approach to reach out to their consumers, many wineries have dedicated publicists who use effective social media channels to engage their customers.

A study conducted in France and in the US showed nearly all wineries have a Facebook presence. 94% in the US to be precise. And about 73% of them in the US are on Twitter. The near-universal adoption of social media by purveyors of wine attest to their success in making their presence felt online.

Half of the wineries form the survey have more than 500 fans on Facebook and well over a third have at least 500 followers on Twitter. The survey creators wondered what contributed to wineries having many fans. The answer? Almost half of them have dedicated marketing managers that create and promote advertising on social media platforms.

About 30% are using Facebook ads for promotion and 47% of them say the ads actually do attract business. 28% of the wineries report that Twitter helped draw in some new business. Both platforms scored in the mid 60% range for engaging customers in a winery brand. Facebook ads resulted in people visiting the winery in 58% of cases and Twitter did the same in 45% of the cases.

So we can see that social media is having a dramatic impact on wine drinkers. Almost three quarters of wineries say they plan to have more activity on social media platforms and the half that currently has no presence on Facebook says they do plan on breaking into social media in 2012

This is good news for other people who may still be hesitant to dip one foot into the social media pool. With the many benefits of moderate wine drinking, and its appeal to both men and women, wine is a good product to market online. It also shows that you don’t have to be a tech company to harness the advantage of communication that social media brings. Let’s toast to that!

Source: http://www.webpronews.com/how-social-media-revolutionized-wine-marketing-sales-2012-05

May 24, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

It’s a glowing success story we’d all like to sink our teeth into. Our friends in the UK are having the time of their lives as newfound hobby pastry chefs discover they can turn their half baked dreams of culinary creativity into full blown, tasty creations.

Cake Decorating magazine has some delicious lessons to share with any business owner looking to create that winning recipe for customer engagement and nifty success. The magazine is unique in that it only talks about Cake Decorating. Targeted to beginners and middling skill enthusiasts, the subscription walks you through a series of 90 lessons in cake, cookie, cupcake and party favor decorations AND they also ship you the tools of the trade. It’s a package thought out for the convenience of the subscriber. With most homeowners in the UK having existing ovens in their kitchen, the low entry price of tools + magazine would be a winning combination in itself.

The magazine aims to give readers an affordable new hobby, with each issue supplemented by the free tools needed to follow the tutorials in the magazine. The series will teach readers how to make iced cookies, cool cupcakes, and occasion cakes at home amongst much more.

Since cake decoration lends itself very well to visual display, it was natural for the company to create a facebook page where subscribers of the magazine can share pictures and comment on the photos of others online before their snack sized masterpieces are eaten up by enthusiastic people around them. It’s a winning streak so far— nearly 50,000 likes and 40-100 photos uploaded every day. These are numbers to drool after!

Readers have been keen to show off their new cake decorating skills and the community has continued to thrive on shared tips and feedback. The photo album provides a hub of inspiration for the community and is a chance to compare the different outcomes of the recipes and techniques taught in the magazine each week. Polls are posted two-to-three times a week in order to give readers a chance to discuss their preferences on various light-hearted subjects from cupcake flavours to piping techniques. Typically around 1,000 readers respond to each poll.

The regular Friday and Monday ‘catch up’ posts are also fast becoming a tradition. On Friday, readers post their plans for the weekend and on Monday report back with photos and discussion of their decorating adventures. The posts aim to build on the established content of the magazine, giving the readers a chance to coach each other through the new techniques and discuss how to use the free decorating tools.

The site’s twitter followers also boast impressive numbers. The community currently has 3,300 followers and is expected to grow as more issues of the magazine are released.

For a magazine that’s barely in its fourth issue this is a publisher’s dream come true. It shows that a beautifully done website, consistent use of social media platforms and a sense of what people long for all combine to create a satisfying experience for the customer. I took a look at the website and found myself wanting to have sweets right after writing this. It’s a user-friendly site in easy to read font and one can’t help but leave a comment after seeing yet another fabulous cake that seems too good to eat. I hope they duplicate their success here *hint, hint* because there’s at least one sweet-toothed writer who’s gonna be among the first subscribers using her sugar craft gun for issue one.

Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/05/23/prweb9441073.DTL

May 23, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

The way it’s set up, So.cl (pronounced ‘social’) is already making itself felt as a student’s helpful friend in researching schoolwork.

The new website takes successful elements of various social sites and combines them under one domain. So.cl is geared toward the student community, just like Facebook was when it initially launched. However, the emphasis seems to be on social research rather than social interaction. One of the features highlighted in So.cl’s preview video was the search engine. Users can type what they’re looking for in the search field and then they have the option to share their results with friends and followers. A communal feed shows what users share, with the intention of facilitating research among peers.

Just like facebook was originally meant for Ivy League students to get to know the names of other coeds on campus, it seems that Microsoft is hoping to take that route as well. Facebook, as its users began graduating from school, began to evolve into what its current demographic is: under 35s with strong acceptance of technology and a high level of ease with gadgets plus the purchasing power to get that newest smartphone on the market.

However with the field already crowded with sites such as Pinterest, Reddit, etc, Microsoft might have a hard time breaking in to this scene.

However, since the site is still under the “Microsoft Research” banner, there are still bugs and kinks that need to be smoothed over. There may be times when links don’t work and functions will be limited, such as content not populating your feed properly. Exploring the site may also not be a user-friendly experience, according to Buzzfeed.

One of the major takeaways from what can be said about So.cl so far is that it isn’t for everyone, and it’s still in its developmental stages.

“So.cl doesn’t appear to be built for mass appeal,” writes Ian Paul of PC World. “I’d say if your life is already filled with tweets, Facebook likes, and LinkedIn status updates, you can safely skip So.cl without missing much.”

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/343579/20120521/microsoft-socl-social-network-invites-facebook-twitter.htm

May 22, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

Lady Gaga is already the queen of social media, almost 25 million Twitter followers. So it just goes to reason that once she’s conquered that medium she would go on to create her own social networking site. Little Monsters, a site built around Gaga’s fanbase, is in invite-only beta testing mode right now.

As a multi platinum, award winning and controversial (remember her meat dress?) recording artist, Lady Gaga is looked up to by many young people for many reasons. Her honesty in her songs, her flamboyant self-expression and the uber-savvy way she markets herself on social media platforms. 25 million followers on Twitter, imagine that!!!

With her reputation for breaking barriers and inciting new trends, her creation of her own social media site is a first among celebrities. Usually we’re used to seeing celebs endorse perfume, clothing, stuff on the home shopping network or Weight Watchers. But going out and making your own social media site? Fans are sure to go gaga over that.

According to Mashable, an early look at the site shows some similarity to the popular Pinterest mobile app that allows users to drop pins on locations and things they like. It also uses elements of the Reddit site by allowing fans to rate cool content that they like. Little Monsters will focus on fans sharing and creating photos and videos and allowing users to hype content that they are into.

the company plans to launch Little Monsters out of beta at an undetermined time and spin off more sites this year. It hopes to leverage Gaga’s massive online following to draw users to the new sites. To date, in addition to her massive Twitter base, Gaga has 330,000 followers on Google+, more than 50 million Facebook fans and more than one billion views on YouTube
.

This is something we’re sure to be keeping an eye on as it develops. Do you think Lady Gaga might start pulling away people from facebook to be on Little Monsters? Is this the start of a celeb-as-social-media-site trend in years to come? Stay tuned…

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1685468/lady-gaga-social-networking-site.jhtml

May 22, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

A recent Forbes article compares two social media companies, LinkedIn and Facebook and makes interesting points about each, and why professionals want to have a presence on both sites. At first it seems like an apples to oranges comparison. In many ways it is. LinkedIn caters to white collar professionals who would like to keep their resumes constantly updated for recruitment to see, and maintain “a virtual rolodex” of other peers in the industries they move in. Facebook is more open, more free flowing and has a potential to cause embarrasment (if you are a job seeker) from poorly posted pictures, opinions or comments on your profile. But apples and oranges can taste good in a fruit salad, and each complements the other’s taste profile to make for an interesting eat. Likewise, Facebook and LinkedIn can also be part of one’s online presence, as each platform caters to different needs.

First from a numbers standpoint, the two companies look similar.  Interestingly they both generate almost exactly the same revenue per “user.” LinkedIn’s growth rate is nearly twice that of Facebook (and even greater when considering Facebook’s QTQ growth).  But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

LinkedIn is a professional network, which has monetized its connections through its tremendous power as a corporate recruitment platform. With around 160 million members (mostly professionals in their 30s and older)

LinkedIn users tend to be in their 40s and older, they tend to be white collar professionals, and they tend to be people with college degrees. This is a great population for corporate recruiters, but it is a limited population and LinkedIn is aggressively recruiting college graduates and other bands of professionals around the world to continue its growth.

What LinkedIn needs now is to position itself to be attractive to the demographic that Facebook has in its hands: younger people who will soon or have just graduated. However…

As far as reaching out to hourly workers, blue collar workers, and non-professionals, today it’s not clear that LinkedIn can (or wants to) extend itself in these directions. The entire website is designed as an “information rich” system, not a “photo and personal sharing” system liked Facebook and other networks.

Facebook on the other hand, is not seen as the first choice for head hunters who need to sort out through various similar names to find the one person they need for a particular job. The reluctance of LinkedIn to dilute its white-collar only preference could potentially be a niche Facebook would like to explore. If not them, then some other up and coming company might make the counterpart to serve the rest of the workforce.

What we can learn from this is that despite LinkedIn’s fewer numbers compared to Facebook, they have the ability to monetize each user at par or even more than Facebook’s capacity with nearly three times the subscribers. Proof enough that there is room in the social media field to grow profit in heretofore untapped niches.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/05/21/facebook-vs-linkedin-whats-the-difference/

May 21, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

The search engine known for not being evil has come up with the latest innovation in search. Google’s Knowledge Graph takes on the ambiguity that many searches seem to come up with. The problem is one of relevance. For example, when you type in “apple” and hit Go, in the past you could return searches for apple the fruit, Apple the company or any other item with apple in it like recipes, recommendations for spa treatments or apple flavored lip gloss.

You, the searcher, would have to manually filter out the irrelevant results and perhaps add other search keywords (eg. Apple cider) to make the results more relevant to you. Now Google aims to take on some of the burden of narrowing down your results to predict what you’re looking for and get it the first time around.

Move over, 10 blue links. Google Knowledge Graph is the search giant’s latest attempt to provide direct answers in its results instead of just sending people elsewhere.

 

The new feature, which is gradually rolling out to all users, adds boxes full of Wikipedia-like information to the search results page, covering subjects such as landmarks, celebrities, cities, media, and sports teams. The graph draws on public sources including Freebase, the CIA World Factbook, and, of course, Wikipedia. Some users started seeing these fact boxes last week, but now they’re official.

Google says it’s not just providing factoids with Knowledge Graph. It’s also drawing upon the relationship between objects to try and figure out what people want to know. For instance, the fact box for Marie Curie shows what elements she discovered, and the one for Charles Dickens shows what books he wrote, and many of these facts link to new searches on related topics. According to Google, the information that Knowledge Graph shows about Tom Cruise answers 37 percent of the next questions people ask about him.

It’s a nifty asset when trying to figure out what to ask in the first place. How many times have we sat down in front of the computer and thought out, “I know I want to find out the lowest price on skis but I want to make sure it’s for brick and mortar stores in my area because I don’t want to order skis online”. Sometimes we have a shadow of what it is we want and it may take several attempts to refine the results to get what we’re looking for. With Knowledge Graph, the stuff we type in usually works most of the time. If none of the suggestions seem to match what you need, then it will still provide usefulness by giving you what you know you don’t want. Mucho thanks to the peeps in Google for this awesome time saver! XOXO

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/article/255705/google_knowledge_graph_search_gets_smarter_and_more_direct.html

May 21, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com

So you have spent quite a bit of time writing the kind of high quality content you hope will be valuable for your readers. Would you rather confine your audience to your blog subscribers or expose your article to a greater audience? Of course everyone would choose the latter, but where do you start? Fortunately for you, Divvy HQ created a handy 12-step infographic blog promotion strategy checklist you can follow for each blog post you write. With these simple steps you can leverage your existing articles to generate a lot more exposure for your blog post.

Some recommendations such as posting to social media sites are more obvious, but others less known tactics such as including your most recent blog post title and link in your email signature make this infographic worth reading.

George J. Hanko III

CEO and Founder of Create A Social Buzz

Source: http://www.divvyhq.com/index.php/2012/04/blog-post-promotion-checklist-infographic/

May 21, 2012

Create A Social Buzz

www.createasocialbuzz.com