The Rise of Women in Social Networks

Brian Solis’s recent analysis of the 20 Top Social Media sites reveals interesting statistics on who is using these social media sites.

Most notably is more than the presence of women, but their clear dominance throughout the socialsphere.

• In 16 of 20 top social media sites, women equaled or dominated men in number of users.
• Women dominated in the top 2 social media sites, Facebook (57% women, 70.27M users) and MySpace(64% women, 70.25M users)

In interpreting the data, Solis challenges marketers and PR specialists is to participate as community managers, in contrast to the standard modus opendi of top down, one-to-many marketing.

The key lesson for marketers is a choice to participates as a social member in these sites to discover and mine the richness and network complexities.

Each network possesses a vibrant culture and ecosystem that is powered by context and connected by influential social graphs.

Inclusion begins with consistent demonstration of trustworthiness via presence, sharing, support and contributory content of value.

For complete statistics, read the full post here.

Sound off
How do you assure your marketing strategies are participatory and sensitive to community member needs?

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Amos White is a Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

Who owns my pics? Zee calls out media sharing services

In a recent post, Zee, Editor of The Next Web, cautions against using third party, Twitter media sharing services due to the potential risks of loss of control over your personal branding.

His overall message is important: find and use a platform that you can own and control your media as hosted.

However, what Zee intones can largely be seen as true, it overlooks and discounts the disposable behavioral dispositions for many people who actually “choose” to post multi media they consider disposable, ephemeral, and of the moment: “pop.”

Come on, Zee. When wasn’t the last time you saw a Guy Kawasaki photo-op of him standing next to his latest conference host? Personal brand value? Ok, so this means he’s human and can take those in the moment shots. But do I want to consume this as part of “the magic” of Guy Kawasaki? No, its just a momentary reference image to codify an event.

Not all information needs to be owned or even wanted by a user. Just ask any teenager with a cell phone, or look at your own travel pics of the Cinque Terra. (No disrespect nor offense meant, Zee. They were nice and showed how sweet and human you were, but I’m sure a host of other people just want to follow you for you marketing and social media insights. They’ve seen a gazillion pics of Italy’s famed coast and harbor.)

The coastal harbor pictures or the sky pics were in the moment.

A cup of cafe: in the moment. Why not just share them on Twitpic or any other third party app?

Information that is not a “keepsake” nor of positive brand value is quickly used as referential media- to connect with and to share with others about an immediate experience. This kind of disposable media does not necessarily have to “owned” nor even wanted by the user who considers its value trivial since its in the moment (e.g.; a coffee picture in any cafe while at a conference) and thus of little or no “personal brand value” to a user other than to say “I was here.”

I still think and find Twitpic and other third party media services to hold much value as media intermediaries and repositories for such disposable information.

The beautiful and value added media I reserve for my blogs. This higher quality information is what for my followers, fans, etc. truly appreciate in poignancy, relevancy and quality.

Why not post the detritus of the moment to and thru these other services as errant comments, rants, giggles and fancies caught in one’s eye?

For more, read the full post, “Why you should NOT be using TwitPic, TwitVideo or any other Twitter media sharing service.”

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Amos White is an Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

How charities harness social media for a social impact

A good report from the Christian Science Monitor on How charities harness social media for a social impact.

It should come as no surprise that charities.

This is a good example how the mission of social nonprofits and NGOs is a good match for tapping and benefiting from using social media.

Read the full article here: www.csmonitor.com

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Amos White is an Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

Ahoy! It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day

In honor of my good friend
Mark, who never fails to miss this celebration: it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Yes, September 19 has been so dubiously dubb.

And How?

How this caught on across the web, as well as the world is confounding.

Argh! So here’s one for ye mateys:

On Facebook, peer at the bottom of any Facebook page.
Click on the blue link that says English (or the language name you use).
Now change it in honor of this unofficial holiday to English (Pirate).

That should do the trick.

Now cruise about Facebook and read the text on the pages for a harty laugh.

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Talk Like a Pirate Day Official website is here.
www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Tweeters for Hire: Big Business’s Human Engagements

Watching major corporations take the plunge in social media is more than an experiment.

According to this AP article companies are diving in to humanizing their brands.

“Multinational corporations, such as Ford Motor Co. and Coca-Cola Co., are beginning to use social media to increase positive sentiment, build customer rapport and correct misinformation, says Adam Brown, Coca-Cola’s Atlanta-based director of social media.”

Fallen on Deaf Ears?
Hardly. Transparency and openness in communication seems to go a long way for both companies and their consumers.

The article cites that, according to Ford  Motors’ social media strategist Scott Monty, “You’re addressing whoever wrote the original comment. But you’re doing it in the public square.”

Read the full post here: More Big Businesses Hire Tweeters.