Classifieds are OUT. It’s time to  LINK IN Finding the job of your dreams the old way just doesn’t happen anymore. If you want great pay,great benefits, and great satisfaction in your career, you must begin social networking. How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks helps you takefull advantage of the bounty of opportunities to be found on the most popular sites. Online job-searchexperts Brad and Debra Schepp take you step-by-step thr (more…)

Classifieds are OUT. It’s time to LINK IN! Finding the job of your dreams the old way just doesn’t happen anymore. If you want great pay, great benefits, and great satisfaction in your career, you must begin social networking. How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Other Social Networks helps you take full advantage of the bounty of opportunities to be found on the most popular sites. Online job-search experts Brad and Debra (more…)

Facebook is a social networking website that helps people reconnect with past colleagues and find new business opportunities. Facebook has evolved into a unique and powerful business tool. Users can share links to their work, learn more about their customers, and promote upcoming events. Facebook is an invaluable resource for professionals who wish to stay current with today’s evolving business world.

Twitter may be the hottest web property on the block, but its more than a toy (more…)

From Publishers Weekly

In this clear-eyed collection of case studies, Fast Company contributing writer and NYU journalism professor Penenberg examines the engine driving the growth of web 2.0 businesses like Flickr, YouTube and eBay to Facebook and Twitter: the viral loop. The concept behind a viral loop is simple-in order to use the product, you have to spread it, thus creating massive, user-driven growth cycles-after all, Penenberg explains, social networks like Facebook are wo (more…)

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I have mixed feelings about Twitter.I was told by many friends that I was “stuck on stupid” in the Stone Age and just had to start using Twitter.com to get into the real new world. I took a very good class on Twitter and set out to share my goings-on with the waiting world. I was told that I should strive to get as many people following me, and I, in turn, should follow them and read their 140-character impulsive thoughts because they would be reading mine. I also read that using Twitter could help my business grow if people get to like me.So I started “tweeting” but could not bring myself to confess to total strangers that, as a successful businessman, I had time to share that my grass is growing.I’ve been using Twitter for awhile now, and I must confess that in reading other people’s tweets, what I’ve found is that a whole lot of people have a whole lot of time on their hands and want me to know that they are enjoying a cup of coffee somewhere or that they’re stuck in traffic (and tweeting this important information while they’re driving… hmm, I see a new traffic law coming).It also does not seem to be two-way communication but rather a narcissistic “Look at me, and what I’m doing” one-way street. I very rarely see anyone respond or comment on others’ tweets, they just keep telling others about themselves.I kept thinking, “Maybe I am Stone-Age stupid – I don’t get this.” Well, this week I read a Reuters report: “Many Twitters are quick quitters.” The article reports data that questions the long-term success of the latest social networking sensation used by celebrities from Oprah Winfrey to Britney Spears. President Obama used Twitter during last year’s campaign.Sounds like the new wave, but data from Nielsen Online, which measures Internet traffic, found that more than 60 percent of Twitter users stopped using the free social networking site a month after joining. “Twitter’s audience retention rate, or the percentage of a given month’s users, who come back the following month, is currently about 40 percent,” David Martin, Nielsen Online’s vice president of primary research, said. “For most of the past 12 months, pre-Oprah, Twitter has languished below 30 percent retention.”It has enjoyed a recent explosion in popularity on the back of celebrities such as actor Ashton Kutcher and Oprah Winfrey, among countless others, who’ve sung its praises and sent out “tweets,” alerting followers to breaking news or the sender’s sometimes-mundane activities. Twitter, as a private company, does not disclose the number of its users but according to Nielsen Online, Twitter’s website had more than 7 million unique visitors in February compared to 475,000 unique visitors in February 2008. But Martin said a retention rate of 40 percent will limit a site’s growth to a 10 percent reach figure over the longer term. “There simply aren’t enough new users to make up for defecting ones after a certain point,” he said. Martin said the more-established social networking sites Facebook and MySpace enjoyed retention rates that were twice as high and those rates only rose when they went through their explosive growth phases. Both currently have retention rates of about 70 percent, with Facebook having about 200 million users. “Twitter has enjoyed a nice ride over the last few months, but it will not be able to sustain its meteoric rise without establishing a higher level of user loyalty,” said Martin. My conclusions so far:Starting out on Twitter is like using a spoon to carve a steak. It might work but you need more utensils to work effectively. I have discovered that there are a great many tools out there to make Twitter more effective, like Twellow, Twellowhood, Tweetstat,Twitterfriends, Twitpwr, Twtpic, TweetBeep and more. But you need the time and desire to learn how to use each of them to get the most out of Twitter.Twitter is a fad. It’s great for celebrities, but don’t for a minute think that they are following you back. Okay, I confess that I do want to have a million adoring fans following ME, just like Oprah, hanging on my every thought to make their lives more complete and then rushing out to buy my book, “PUSHING WATER UPHILL With A Rake.”But back in the real world I have no illusions that if I am following 5,000 people –and don’t have time to read their comings and goings – that they are all following me or caring about what I’m doing or not doing. I think Twitter might have value if used in conjunction with other networking media. Successful Internet networking needs to be more related to personal networking and less about chatter. I have found success with smaller sub-groups on Twitter that have shared values and geography, including the Denver Twitter Connection. These types of groups are twittering within Twitter, much like groups on Facebook. So for now, I’m not a Twitter quitter, but I’m certainly not a fan. What do you think about Twitter?  Please leave your comments, and feel free to tell me I’m Stone-Age stupid… just tell me why.

The buzz is all around. Everyone is talking about Twitter! Well, what is Twitter? Read further and you will know all about Twitter. The most simple and clear-cut answer to ‘what is Twitter?’ is, it is a social networking as well as a micro blogging site. Those of you who are too busy in their lives and have no time for long emails and Instant Messages, Twitter is an ideal choice.

Twitter allows its users to send and receive tweets. Tweets means messages in Twitter world. The tweets are limited to 140 characters. These tweets appear on the profile of user page and are delivered to its followers. Followers are those who subscribe to a user. Twitter is also known as SMS of the internet. Whether it is some breaking news or a message or an update from a friend, you can get all this information via Twitter.

There are many ways to send messages (tweets) to others. You can send messages directly through Twitter web site, as an SMS on phone or through third party like Firefox add-on called Twitterfox, Twirl or Snitter.

Twitter is the most recently launched social networking site. Launched in 2006, Twitter has gained popularity among social networking people and bloggers worldwide. Introduced by a private company, the most remarkable thing about Twitter is, it wasn’t started as a venture aiming at social networking. Yet, today it ranks third among the other social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

After knowing what Twitter is all about, let’s look at some of the pitfalls of Twitter. In the short time it has been on the Internet, it has had its fair share of technical glitches. Account handling came up as one major issue as Twitter servers could not handle the influx of a lot of new accounts. Importantly and critically, security factor was compromised several times on the use of Twitter. The fact that a lot of users discontinued using Twitter a month after signing up goes to show the kind of problems this software faced. With the press giving a lot of bad press about Twitter, one thing was sure – This new social networking application surely had some way to go before it topples Myspace or Facebook. That said, the web site surely gained popularity, albeit in a bad manner.

Now that you know what is Twitter take a look at the list of some notable Twitter users. You are sure to be amazed. Twitter was used in 2007 by the fire department of LA during California wildfires. Some of the NASA projects are updated using Twitter. Oh yes, not to forget the technology savvy President of USA. President Barack Obama used Twitter during his election campaign. Not just him but even his campaign volunteers used Twitter for publicity during the campaign. The most notable use was by Israel government. They held press conferences through Twitter. They held their Q&A round via Twitter about the then ongoing war against Hamas, Gaza.

Now that you know “What is Twitter?”, why wait, and just get the ball rolling with a Twitter account.

Twitter recently announced that it has changed its title tags for profiles, making a big impact on how high these pages are ranked in search engines.

The news can be either good or bad, depending on who you are! For those who want visibility, it will be a blessing. Others are going to have to adapt.

If you tweet for informational purposes then the changes couldn’t be better. But if you tweet about your mother-in-law’s annoying habits or why your colleagues could give David Brent a run for their money, then you’d better wise up to increased search engine exposure.

Let’s take a look at the changes, using the US President as an example. I used the Wayback Machine to view his profile, as it appeared in 2007. Take a look at the title tag in my browser.

2007 Format: Twitter / Username

In contrast, today’s format looks like this: Full name (username) on Twitter

Small change – big results!So, what can you expect when you search for someone’s personal name?

If they have an online presence, you would usually see their profiles on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and My Space amid Google’s first two results pages. With the recent changes, however, you’re likely to see a person’s Twitter page rank highest of all.

It makes me wonder what Twitter will do next, as I’m certain we will see a few more changes made to benefit search.

Interestingly Google has also undertaken a Pagerank update that has slashed the ranking of many Twitter pages. Twitter itself has risen from rank 8 to 9, but most profiles have dropped – from 8 to 6, from 7 to 4 and so on.

Staying on the same topic, Facebook announced yesterday that it is also changing its link structure. The site plans to use the usernames as the URL extension instead of the current, randomly assigned number.

For example:

Facebook has posted:

We’re planning to offer Facebook usernames to make it easier for people to find and connect with you. When your friends, family members or co-workers visit your profile or Pages on Facebook, they will be able to enter your username as part of the URL in their browser. This way people will have an easy-to-remember way to find you. We expect to offer even more ways to use your Facebook username in the future.

Is this recognition that Twitter is one step ahead of the game, having already propelled ‘Tweeters’ to higher search rankings than MySpace and Facebook profiles?

Either way, it’s safe to say that the changes are going to have a big impact, just as the Twitter changes did. And from my point of view, it’s great that these social sites are finally becoming more search friendly.

Author: Emil CohenArticle Source: MiNeeds.com, where consumers get competitive bids from Internet Service providers. Read reviews, compare offers & save. It’s free!Article Link: http://www.mineeds.com/Los-Angeles/Locksmith-Los-Angeles/Articles/Facebook-Go-Head-to-Head-Social-Battle-with-TwitterTags: Facebook , Social , Battle , Twitter , google , social media , social networking , marketing , advertising , news , gadgets , friends , followersGoogle Friend Connect Features Social Media NetworkingGoogle Friend Connect instantly awakens and strengthens the community that visits your site by enriching it with social media networking features by google. social media networking News Google Breaking the Silence launch massive counterattacks against twitter and facebook Google Friend Connect instantly awakens and strengthens the community that visits your site by enriching it with social features. Watch the video below to learn more. Facebook Go Head to Head Social Battle with TwitterEmil Cohenemilcohen.comFacebook Go Head to Head Social Battle with Twitter.Facebook He also advanced, not only Twitter.com Facebook.com social network began the way as closed gene Now it’s completely doing more and more steps to open it.Are all the network will be Facebook?Recently we got to the world users situation that is similar to what could be seen in the United States over the past year: everyone write about Twitter, while Facebook slightly abandoned slightly forgotten.The fact are it’s getting more and more users. In other words, doing more and more steps on the way to take over the world.Facebook is one of the world’s most Goals Achievable company today. Not on the Internet, worldwide. Her goal is to make the layer of the social network, you can see a prism in which the entire network.Mark Zuckerberg defined the site as the establishment of communication and sharing. ” The understatement of the year.Zuckerberg that what he wants to make the product picture of all his communications. All share.The Evolution of Facebook way this goal is very impressive.Apply social network site for students of Harvard University, became a social network for students in general, and became a social network for everyone.Then, Facebook became the first social network, and a platform for applications. She expanded the platform that the other networks such as Bebo.Then made the Facebook Kontakt, which enables surfers to the sites and create a social graph where they use their identity from Facebook.Google also launched a service to compete Facebook Kontakt it was less than success for two reasons: it is easier to install Facebook Kontakt site, and a lot more people connected to their account at any given moment in Facebook than their Google account. Recently, the combat began Facebook to develop her more than ever before. Today, developers can create applications and services in which users can access all content Facebook of their friends. Everything except the comments, actually.New measuresFacebook star also supports on-OpenID last week put Facebook more social foundations for building the party that she is building a network.The first step was the application of technology OpenID.It is in that enables users to connect to sites without giving them the details that identify.Instead, give users the Ohssma their user name on another site, like Google, Yahoo!, MySpace etc., or by using other OpenID services.Existing users, allows the site to connect their digital identities.Thus, if they are tied to their account Facebook to the Yahoo account! They open a window while in the yahoo e.mail to Facebook!,They will be connected automatically Facebook because their identification process was carried out for Yahoo!MySpace, Google, Yahoo! And others support-OpenID unilaterally: a user can use his online identity in one of them to sign up sites. But not in the opposite direction: you cannot log in to Google using a user name Yahoo! Or MySpace.Facebook is the first big site to implement OpenID in full.The second step was the creation last week a new library applications, including software have been the site for approval.Already today, successful companies built applications Facebook huge profits.This is an industry of hundreds of millions. With the approval seal of the granting of the site, these have been made to make him even more large.Facebook becomes, practically, the largest platform network applications.Then because of that what we have here? Site stepped possible/given to approach the countless other sites between if in the connection or by means of application.Site that his identity of worker also in the countless blogs.Site given/allowed to approach to his designs in the wide variety, and grows, of resources, and site that not needs even to put in him user name and password in order to enter.And everything built on the social graph.On the bushy network of relationships between the users, that she is the spine of the site and of majority of the applications in him and the applications that enable an approach to him.Facebook is advanced towards the attainment of her targets in the approach of careful openness. Other step of step.Was the Article Useful?I hope you enjoyed the article! Please rate it at the following link, your feedback is highly appreciated:Facebook Go Head To Head Social Battle With Twitter

Usually the early adopters of technology are businesses and later on it trickles down to government, non-profits and yes politics. In the last two elections, presidential candidates started using technology to gain an advantage over their opponents, especially during the primaries. Howard Dean and Barrack Obama used technology effectively and intelligently and the results speak for themselves.

These days, everybody is talking about Twitter but Twitter is so new that people are still trying to figure out how to use it beyond the basics.

This article is based on the book ‘Long John Twitter’ that goes to great length to go beyond the basics of Twitter and help a reader comprehend the power of Twitter when combined with other emerging technologies. This article is intended to help politicians and activists figure out how to use Twitter and its sister applications to get ahead or at the very least not fall behind a smarter more tech. savvy rival.

Instead of mentioning current politicians and ruffling the feathers of one or the other, we will use the names Lincoln and Douglas for this article.

If Lincoln had Twitter and its sister Apps, this is probably how it would go:

Armed with the above information, Lincoln and his team now needs to get down to work. They have current statistics. The objective is clear – win the election. The technology is there. How to leverage this technology to tilt the odds in favor of Lincoln.

Team Lincoln has to increase Lincoln’s followers and increase his influence with the followers. They need to show to Lincoln’s followers that he understands the issues of the day, has better solutions and can lead the way towards a better society.

Now if Lincoln has amateurs running his show, they would bombard his followers with his statements all day long till they are sick of it and tune him out. That would be a total disaster.

For a politician, having constituents and followers is great but it is quite a challenge to stay in touch, keep them engaged and motivated without wearing yourself and your team down.

Lincoln and his team are professionals so they decide to create a micro news agency. The news agency would:

Doing all this would require considerable manpower unless they use technology. Technology is meant to save on manpower and provide speed of delivery. Using the applications detailed in ‘Long John Twitter’, Lincoln and his team would set up their systems to create the micro news agency using the guidelines above. Then they would let it run without human intervention. No allocation of human resources on a daily basis at all.

The team would periodically sit down and analyze the metrics. If things need to be adjusted, they would do so. If a new issue has surfaced, they would add that to the filters and start feeding related news to the followers.

As time goes by, Lincoln’s followers would know that he is in touch with the issues that matter to them. After all, he is the one feeding them information every day. They would trust him and also re-tweet / circulate his information to other people. That would further increase Lincoln’s clout / circle of influence. Day by day, Lincoln would gain strength and that could eventually tilt the scales in his favor at the ballot.

Summary: Twitter by itself is a very basic application. Combined with it’s sister applications and human ingenuity, Twitter can be a very potent message and content delivery mechanism. Use it to your advantage.

Good Luck!

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Maybe you don’t know how social media can be used to build your Consulting business. Maybe you feel its just a big waste of time, with no real way you could consistently get clients, build brand or name recognition from using something like twitter.

Lets take a little time here, and let me show you how to build a successful Consulting business using online social media services. Begin with looking at how you already or might be able to use these services. If you spend time speaking to business professionals, or talking to people about business than were on the right path.

Because the social media world is a perfect pool of prospects and professionals.

“The Society for New Communications Research, conducted research which looked at 17,000 Internet users in 29 countries” and found that social media can have a dramatic impact on their brand’s reputation.

 ”34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog and 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs.”

What impact could that have on your business?

There is no faster way to create credibility and brand recognition than through social media. A valid reason alone for using sites such as Twitter and Face-book. Once you have begun to collect followers who seem interested in you and your business you will be in a position to offer real value to those seeking more info about you and what you have to offer.

That usually comes in the nature of questions in a post. These questions get speared throughout an entire network, and how you answer these questions will reflect your professionalism and personal touch.

Through these occasions of interaction you will be building a “case history” of sorts. You can create a FAQ, list, you can conduct a Survey, invite others for Interviews, and even do some advertising by posting titles and links to helpful articles that you write.

As you can see this is the probably the fastest and most efficient way to interact with prospects. You will very quickly be able to connect to hundreds of thousands of real live people who can contribute to your business. By sending you valuable content and leads.