After reading a blog about how different political parties use social media (Bang the Drum), I realized that many companies have the same problems.

People are finally starting to jump on the social media bandwagon, they are setting up a presence on Twitter, Facebook and Plurk. So now they are in the right place, but the question is: will the presence they created be effective? I will admit, that my answer to what makes an effective presence in a social media website is just my opinion, first let me share with you:

Top 5 Ineffective Social Media Accounts:

1. The Sitter: This is a an account for the sake of an account. The user-name is claimed, that’s all. No updates, no interaction. This is the kind of account that exists solely to create a back-link or two.

2. The Narcissist: This profile was created as one giant commercial. Often, the user will link to an RSS Feed from their blog or constantly post links back to their home page. The other version of the narcissist constantly updates about the awesome places they go or the famous people they meet. In other words every single post and topic consists of: me, me, me, me, me.

3. The Collector: This person spends time friending everyone. They will spend all their time adding replying to friends that they never post anything of value.

4. The Life-less: Often you find these on microblogging sites. They post every twenty seconds. Often their posts include what they are doing, watching, eating or any other bodily function. The hardly ever post anything with substance.

5. The Spaz: These are accounts that will be super active for a day and then disappear, often to reappear again in another few days. Their user is super busy, or just forgetful. They can be great when available but often trying to strike up a long-term dialog with them is impossible.

The Effective Presence: I think the effective social media account revolves around balance. The user takes time to interact with their friends and followers. They post about themselves, their and topics relevant to their interests and to the interests of others. Remember social media is a platform, not a stage. Businesses have a great opportunity to reach out to their customers through social media, but the key lies in opening up and responding to needs not regurgitating “I’m awesome” links.

What do you think makes an effective social media presence? Do you agree or disagree with balance being the most important part of a profile?

Since there has been microblogging there has been the Microblogwars.

The original war was between Twitter and a service called Jaiku, which launched a few month before Twitter but has since been closed to the public by Google. A number of social sites also include microblogging as part of their service. These are often called status updates and can be found on Facebook and MySpace.

Pownce, created by Digg founder Kevin Rose, also joined the fray just recently. Along with Spoink which includes all forms of multimedia blogging. Even Plurk is considered a contender for the Microblog Crown.

One of the most recent additions has been Identi.ca. Identi.ca is an open-source service, which means that not only is it free, it also makes all its code public. However, the look and feel of Identi.ca is almost indetical to Twitter which made it a huge competitor during Twitter’s down time. Identi.ca had record sign-up in its first 24-hours. Many disgruntled Tweeple at least tested the service, many more simply reserved their name and waited to see what would happen.

Since Indenti.ca’s opening it has stayed mostly under the radar. Little buzz has continued about Identi.ca “replacing” Twitter. This may be due to a number of small glitches from Identi.ca.

But why is there a need to compete? Is one service really better than the other? MySpace and Facebook really offer two different services yet they are always lumped together and compared? The same thing happened when Plurk got hot. Die-hard Twitter fans raged that Plurk was a copy-cat out to ride on Twitter’s famous coat-tails. Are they really offering the same service? I think not. Identi.ca has a lot of similarities with its cousin Twitter, but if they begin to offer something extra (as foretold in the wondrous FAQ), they will have earned their place among the Microblogging Nobles.

Though the true colors of Identi.ca have not yet been revealed. Whether Identi.ca’s extreme replication of Twitter’s interface will help or hurt has yet to be seen. But, I think the one of the joys of the internet is being able to access and experiment with numerous social sites. Then you can test and try them and find a personal fit. Plus, a little healthy competition never hurt anyone.

The past few posts I’ve been focusing my research and attention on the phenomenon of social media. I have to admit it fascinates me, but the goal of course is to make it work, from a business stand point. How can online social networking help your business? And how do you choose from the hundreds of sites that make this available?

I’m going to deal with a number of well-known sites, each one I have reviewed in the last few weeks. Now I’m going to list out each service’s pros and cons so they can all be compared.

Pros:

• Networking Intensive
• Open and chatty community
• real time answers.

Cons:

• Time intensive
• Navigation not intuitive
• Leans towards the internet savvy

Pros:

• Great way to “poll”
• Close to Real Time but simple to use
• Ability to automatically feed blog posts

Cons:

• Too much down time
• Often Tweeple are more interested in getting follower than networking
• Superfluous information

Pros:

• Community Opportunity
• Clean Profile look - user friendly
• Ability to create applications, events and blog posts

Cons:

• Audience not “marketing” friendly
• Networking more social
• Ability to be tagged in notes and images that may not be work appropriate

Pros:

• Massive Audience
• Forum opportunity
• Widely-Accepting to advertising

Cons:

• Spammy
• “Bathroom wall of the internet” - reputation isn’t great
• Friend Collectors instead of clients

Pros:

• Simple, Clean, Business-friendly
• Opportunity to get business feedback
• Chance to get reviewed by clients

Cons:

• People may “reject” your link because they don’t remember you
• Many users don’t check-up on their profile regularly
• Not all people network with others they actually know

Pros:

• Viral effect for blogs
• Simple way to get noticed
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Many people “digg” things because their friends do, not because they like it
• Hitting the front page of Digg has been known to crash websites from too much traffic
• Millions of submission to compete with

Pros:

• Easy for any website
• Allows for site indexing
• Allows for reviews and keywords

Cons:

• Takes a little more time
• Can be bad for niche sites with advertising
• Allows the opportunity for people to rate you negatively

Pros:

• One of the longest standing Social Bookmarking sites
• Allows you to import bookmarks
• Ability to share of keep private based on user needs

Cons:

• Usefulness is merely just an extra link without good user connections
• A hassle without a toolbar extension
• Format is not instinctive

Are there any other social media sites you’d like to see reviewed and added to this list? Let me know what business tools you use.

I know Twitter’s been having a hard time with capacity, but it is still a useful tool in my mind. Last time I discussed Twitter I gave a general overview. This time I want to look more in-depth at what Twitter can do for business owners.

Time Warp

First of all, know that Twitter is an investment. Just like real life networking, it takes a certain amount of patience and persistence. It takes relationship building. Strangely enough, many business owners write off services like Twitter because they “can’t reach their audience” or they “don’t have time”. And yet they are willing to sit through a two hour luncheon, talk about their business for 30 second and get one or two leads (maybe). Pause and consider this for a moment; if that is good networking, how can Twitter not be? Twitter will list your activities for the whole world to see 24 hours a day. Even if you update just once a day and make 5-6 replies… you’re still building your brand! If you still think this is time misspent, check out Problogger’s argument about how all forms of communication can be a waste of time when handled inappropriately.

Follow the Leader

Once you’ve made up your mind to get on Twitter you might not know where to start. Who do you follow? How do you get people to follow you? Rule #1: Never, ever try to follow 20,000 people and see who subscribes back. Just don’t. Its just another form of spam. You may be completely legit but most serious business owners will dismiss you. I suggest searching for people with similar interests. Check out some names in your industry who you admire. Find posts that interest you, and give them some feedback (Remember: the Golden Rule is Networking!). If you need some more help, check out some useful tools like Twellow. Or find people in your area with TwitterLocal. There are lots more!

Quality over Quantity

Some people post 40-50 times a day on Twitter. That’s fine if you want to and have the time. However, I suggest making quality posts about your business, your website, your blog - just a few times a day and giving lots of replies back. Follow one or two new people everyday. If you talk about what interests you, maybe ask some questions, you should start building worthwhile relationships. Not only will people respond to you on Twitter but you should start seeing increased traffic to your blog, articles and website.

The Niche Glitch

I’ve mentioned previously that social media is a lush garden of opportunity for tech-inclined individuals. This does not mean if you aren’t a techie you aren’t welcome. In fact, I love finding writers, stay-at-home moms and students: they give some of the most meaningful feedback. I was just commenting the other day how I wish more “everyday” businesses would create corporate Twitter accounts; I’d follow them in heartbeat. If Barnes & Noble put up book deals on Twitter, I’d check my feed every hour! But not just big business, small ones too. If the owner of Dunn Brother’s Coffee Shop in Addison had a Twitter account, I’d promote them constantly!

Twitterpated

You don’t need to be twitterpated (or smitten, for the Disney illiterate) to appreciate Twitter. It is a tool. You don’t have to write about how you got stuck in traffic or the 5 different salad dressings offered at lunch. But you can write about events you’re attending, sales, opportunities or just what makes you passionate about what you do. You’ll be pleasantly surprised that being real with people on the internet, might just close a sale.

Feel free to follow me: http://twitter.com/Veribatim