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Social Media News
  April 2011
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in this issue
Facebook cost calculator
SPECIAL OFFER
UK's top 25 tech PRs
LinkedIn's personal news
SoMed in marketing
Isle of Man Twestival
MySpace loses users
Facebook's questions
Sherrilynne Starkie Greetings!

I've just had my fifth blogging birthday and a lot has happened since I wrote my Welcome! post. Five years, 912 posts, 1,527 comments 1,456 spams, three skins later, and I'm still blogging.

 

Originally, my hope had been that the blog would help the handful of PR freelancers I was working with "to interact among ourselves and with the outside world of PR, marketing and media professionals.  It is dedicated to discussing news and views on PR and marcoms trends, industry news, inhouse/agency relationships and more."

 

Although the community around it has changed, the blog did fulfil my overall ambition.  It's chock full of stories about these subjects. In fact, this blog could be seen as a chronology of how the social Internet has changed the public relations profession and the media industry as a whole.

 

It hasn't always been smooth sailing. There have been times when for days on end I just I didn't feel like blogging. I've had angry phone calls from people not happy with what I've written.  I've even had a lawyer's letter or two over the years.  But I've learned from it all and it has transformed my business.   

 

I heartily recommend blogging for business and would be happy to help you make a start.  Get in touch!

Thanks for being my 'friend',

Sherrilynne

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Facebook cost calculator
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There is a new tool out that will supposedly help organisations understand the cost implications of Facebook  in the workplace.  The idea, from SpamTitan,  is to help HR and IT people build a case to spend money on its web filtering software.

 

The company says its research shows that 76 % of customers feel under pressure to allow access to more Web 2.0 tools in the workplace.

 

However, social networks have been proven to improve innovation, collaboration, education and communication - all crucial to the modern workforce and real time savers in the long-run.   In addition, employees are the best brand ambassadors when it comes to communicating about their employers online.  Click here for the full story.

 

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The UK's top 25 tech PRs on Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Twitter

Jack Schofield, former tech editor for the FT and now blogging for tech site ZDnet.co.uk, has put together his list of the top 25 tech PRs on Twitter, using PeerIndex as scores as his basis.

 

"Whether you consider them friends or enemies, these are the people who are behind the marketing of technology products in the UK, and while they are usually invisible, Twitter brings them out into the open: it's where, to some extent, they make their skills visible and put their reputations on the line, " writes Jack on his blog.  Click here to read on and see who is Number 1 on the list!  

LinkedIn's personal news service
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LinkedIn, the professional social network with more than 90 million members worldwide, launched the beta of LinkedIn Today, a new product that surfaces the top headlines and stories being shared the most on its platform. The idea is to give people a customised view of trending industry.

 

LinkedInLinkedIn Today allows people to access professional news through three different lenses - by their connections, industry, and the broader global professional network. Users can see what their connections are reading and  they get an industry news digest. They will also have the ability to read what headlines are trending across multiple industries and sources by LinkedIn's global network of professionals.

 

Click here to read on.  

Social media boosts traditional marketing campaigns
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Brands stand to gain more influence and increase their bottom line by getting consumers to engage with them online, according to a white paper published by Syncapse Corp., providers of software for enterprise social media management.

 

The white paper, entitled Increasing Campaign Effectiveness with Social Media, is based on online panel research conducted in February 2011, shows that social media is increasingly pulling mindshare away from traditional advertising outlets.

 

In particular the study identified on key target audience for marketers, the social media producers.  The research found that a single recommendation from these influencers can generate about US$23 in earned media value  - a key ROI indicator.  

 

Click here to read on. 

 
Isle of Man Twestival's social media clinic
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Isle of Man Twestival
Isle of Man Twestival

 

 
MySpace loses 50 million users
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It looks like more bad news for struggling social network MySpace.  Research company comScore has just published figures showing MySpace has lost more than 10 million unique users worldwide between January and February 2011.  Year on year the site has lost almost 50 million users, down from close to 110 million in February 2010.

 

This huge decrease in  users numbers must come as a surprise to the MySpace team which has been working hard to tranform the network into the Internet's main music destination, building on its reputation for having launched the careers of artists like Arctic Monkeys, Kate Nash and Lily Allen.

 

Click here to read on.  
Facebook's new 'questions' feature
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Facebook

Do you find value in Facebook's new 'questions's function?  This is the question I posed my Facebook friend this week as I tried out the new feature for the first time.   The whole object of the exercise was to help me determine my own answer to the question, and I can now say that yes, I definitely find value in this new feature.

 

I started by posing the question on my personal Facebook profile and just left it alone to see what happened.  I got three quick replies and then nothing for the next 24 hours.

 

I then sent the question to 67 of my friends who I know have a strong interest in social media as part of their work or volunteer activity.  Over the next 24 hours a further 21 votes came in, including a handful from people I don't know and am not connected with.   Twelve people clicked yes. Four people clicked no; another four voted 'I'm not sure'. Five clicked on 'I've never seen them before now'.

 

Click here to read on.  

 

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