Purple Squirrl

Social Media now has a landscape

It’s interesting  that when things become so big a diagram is required to make sense of it. Well, that is the case with Social Media. People are not completely clear what should be considered a social media site. I found a great post by Fred Cavazza. In that post he showcases two great pieces that will help people get an idea of what he calls the Social Media Landscape.

From the graphic the different tools and services can be grouped into categories:

• Publication tools with blogs ( Typepad, Blogger…), wikis ( Wikipedia, Wikia, Wetpaint…) and citizen journalism portals ( Digg, Newsvine…)
• Sharing tools for videos ( YouTube…), pictures ( FlickR…), links ( del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia…), music ( Last.fm, iLike…), slideshows ( Slideshare), products reviews ( Crowdstorm, Stylehive…) or products feedbacks ( Feedback 2.0, GetSatisfaction…)
• Discussions tools like forums ( PHPbb, vBulletin, Phorum…), video forums ( Seesmic), instant messaging ( Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Meebo…) and VoIP ( Skype, Google Talk…)
• Social networks ( Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Hi5, Orkut…), niche social networks ( LinkedIn, Boompa…) and tools for creating social networks ( Ning)
• Micropublication tools ( Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Plurk, Adocu…) and alike ( twitxr, tweetpeek)
• Social aggregation tools like lifestream ( FriendFeed, Socializr, Socialthing!, lifestrea.ms, Profilactic…)
• Platforms for livecast hosting ( Justin.tv, BlogTV, Yahoo! Live, UStream…) and there mobile equivalent ( Qik, Flixwagon, Kyte, LiveCastr…)
• Virtual worlds ( Second Life, Entropia Universe, There…), 3D chats ( Habbo, IMVU…) and teens dedicated virtual universes ( Stardoll, Club Penguin…)
• Social gaming platforms ( ImInLikeWithYou, Doof…), casual gaming portals ( Pogo, Cafe, Kongregate…) and social networks enabeled games ( Three Rings, SGN)
• MMO ( Neopets, Gaia Online, Kart Rider, Drift City, Maple Story) and MMORPG ( World of Warcraft, Age of Conan…)

Social Media Landscape [Fred Cavazza.net]

Social Media Optimization (SMO) at SES San Jose

Greg Jarboe from the SES Channel interviews Li Evans of KeyRelevance (and Social Marketing Gurus) at SES San Jose where she is a guest speaker. She talks about video and social media in general. As far as she’s concerned many companies are on board when it comes to Social Media Marketing but haven’t yet completely figured out where it fits - marketing, pr or technical.

She mentions that the most important thing for companies to understand that if they want to fully employ a social media strategy then it needs to start internally with programs aimed at the employees.

Brands Seek Social Media Strategy

Adweek has a great post about why big companies need to hire social media experts. As more and more consumers move online companies want to reach influencers so that they become the indirect company spokesman. The strategies employed to do this can be rather tricky. I agree with the article that if you want to reach that audience then it simply cannot be a marketing message. The tactics used have to keep changing with the times and therefore the social media strategist is essential.

The risk of specialized social-media czars is it becomes yet another marketing function, said Dachis. Indeed, some companies approach the role with a definite focus on finding new ways to market to consumers. Pepsi, for instance, describes its nascent social-media team in a job posting as “responsible for reaching new audiences, bloggers, Facebookers and other key influentials that live in the online world.” (A PepsiCo rep declined to make an executive available to discuss the role, e-mailing a statement that the company is “willing to put more resources into new media as it evolves to ensure that our message is heard.”)

Another interesting point that is made is that these new roles withing a social media strategy team do not necessarily come from strictly marketing careers. They also come from developers and project managers.

The diverse charter of the group is evidenced in the 50 candidates he interviewed over the past six months: some were in PR, but many more came from marketing or even technology backgrounds.

Source: Why Brands Need a New Kind of Leader [AdWeek]

Social Media used in disasters

It seems that all of these new social media platforms are helping in disasters indirectly.

Colorado.edu reports that,

Leysia Palen, an assistant professor of computer science and an affiliate of the CU-Boulder Natural Hazards Center, has studied the ways that people disseminate information in the aftermath of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Southern California wildfires, as well as the recent shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University.

She says, “Web 2.0, or social media Web sites, along with cell phones and other wireless devices, provide a way for large-scale interaction to happen online that is turning out to be very important in these situations. These communication tools can be useful to members of the public as well as to public officials and response and aid organizations.”

Source: CU-Boulder Professor Analyzes Role Of Social Media In Disaster Response And Recovery [Colardo.edu]